NURSING HOMES-COMPLAINTS

Amends the Nursing Home Care Act. Provides that when the Department of Public Health receives a complaint of a violation of the Act or the Department's rules, the Department shall require (instead of request) information identifying the complainant, and requires that the identifying information include the complainant's relationship to the facility. Provides that if the Department has a good faith belief, based on information that comes to its attention, that a complaint is frivolous, intended to harass, or intended to defraud the Department, the Department shall (i) impose on the complainant a civil monetary penalty in the amount of $125 and (ii) include the complainant's name on a list of violators published quarterly. Also provides that if the complainant is licensed or certified by the Department or by the Department of Financial and Professional Regulation, then, subject to the requirements of the Department's Health Care Worker Registry, the Department shall forward the complainant's name to the appropriate agency for further action. Effective January 1, 2013.