Health facilities: clinics., the official text

An act to amend Section 1218.1 of, and to add Section 1218.15 to, the Health and Safety Code, relating to health facilities.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST

Under existing law, the State Department of Public Health is responsible for the licensing and regulation of clinics, as defined. A violation of these provisions is a crime. Existing law requires any person, firm, association, partnership, or corporation desiring a license for a clinic or a special permit for special services to file with the department a verified application on forms prescribed and furnished by the department. A clinic corporation, on behalf of a primary care clinic that has held a valid, unrevoked, and unsuspended license for at least the immediately preceding 5 years, with no demonstrated history of repeated or uncorrected violations of specified provisions that pose immediate jeopardy to a patient, and that has no pending action to suspend or revoke its license, is authorized to file an affiliate clinic application to establish a primary care clinic at an additional site or a mobile health care unit.
This bill would authorize a clinic corporation on behalf of at least one primary care clinic to file an affiliate clinic application pursuant to the above-described provisions for any of its primary care clinic locations to establish a new primary care clinic at an additional site of a mobile health care unit. The bill would authorize a primary care clinic that meets the conditions for licensure as an affiliate clinic described above to file a change of location or file a change of ownership, as specified. The bill would authorize a primary clinic that meets the conditions for licensure as an affiliate cline to identify a parent clinic or designate a new parent clinic through a simple notice to the department. Because this bill would change the scope of a crime, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program.
The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement.
This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:

SECTION 1.
Section 1218.1 of the Health and Safety Code is amended to read:
1218.1.
(a) A clinic corporation on behalf of at least one primary care clinic that has held a valid, unrevoked, and unsuspended license for at least the immediately preceding five years, with no demonstrated history of repeated or uncorrected violations of this chapter or a regulation adopted under this chapter that pose immediate jeopardy to a patient, as defined in subdivision (f), and that has no pending action to suspend or revoke its license, may file an affiliate clinic application under this section to establish a new primary care clinic at an additional site or a mobile health care unit, either of which shall hereafter be referred to as the affiliate clinic. The department, upon receipt of the completed affiliate clinic application submitted by the clinic corporation, shall approve the application and issue a new license, without the necessity of first conducting an initial onsite survey, if all of the following conditions are met:
(1) The clinic corporation that operates an existing licensed primary care clinic, which shall hereafter be referred to as the parent clinic, has submitted a completed affiliate clinic application and the associated application fee on behalf of the affiliate clinic.
(2) The parent and affiliate clinics’ corporate officers, as specified in Section 5213 of the Corporations Code, are the same.
(3) The parent and affiliate clinics are owned and operated by the same nonprofit organization with the same board of directors.
(4) The parent and affiliate clinics have the same medical director or directors and medical policies, procedures, protocols, and standards.
(b) The affiliate clinic application shall consist solely of a simple form and required supporting documents giving the following information:
(1) The name and address of the clinic corporation’s administrative office.
(2) The name and contact information of the clinic corporation’s chief executive officer or executive director.
(3) The name and address of the new affiliate primary care clinic site or the location of the new affiliate mobile health care unit.
(4) The name and contact information of the administrator of the new affiliate primary care clinic site or mobile health care unit.
(5) The expected days and hours of operation and the services to be provided at the new affiliate primary care clinic site or mobile health care unit.
(6) Evidence that the new affiliate mobile health care unit meets the requirements of the Mobile Health Care Services Act (Chapter 9 (commencing with Section 1765.101)).
(7) The type and the manufacturer of the new affiliate mobile health care unit and the proposed area or areas where the new affiliate mobile health care unit will be providing services.
(8) To the extent otherwise required by law, evidence of compliance with the minimum construction standards for adequacy and safety of the new affiliate clinic’s physical plant, pursuant to the OSHPD 3 requirements of the most recent version of the California Building Standards Code applicable to clinics and subdivision (b) of Section 1226. The compliance may be established in the form prescribed by Section 1226.3.
(9) Evidence of fire clearance for the new affiliate clinic site.
(10) A copy of the lease or purchase agreement for the new affiliate clinic site.
(11) A copy of the transfer agreement between the new affiliate clinic and a local hospital.
(12) A current list of clinic corporation board members.
(c) The affiliate clinic application shall be signed by an officer of the clinic corporation’s board of directors or the clinic corporation’s chief executive officer or executive director.
(d) The department shall issue a clinic license under this section within 30 days of receipt of a completed affiliate clinic application. If approved, a clinic license shall be issued within seven days of approval. If the department determines that an applicant does not meet the conditions stated in subdivision (a), it shall identify, in writing and with particularity, the grounds for that determination, and shall instead process the application in accordance with the time specified in Section 1218.
(e) Nothing in this section shall prohibit the department from conducting a licensing inspection of the affiliate clinic at any time after receipt of the completed affiliate clinic application.
(f) For purposes of this section, “immediate jeopardy to a patient” means a situation in which the clinic’s noncompliance with one or more requirements of licensure has caused, or is likely to cause, serious injury, harm, impairment, or death to a patient.

SEC. 2.
Section 1218.15 is added to the Health and Safety Code, to read:
1218.15.
(a) A primary care clinic that meets the conditions for licensure as an affiliate clinic in paragraphs (2) to (4), inclusive, of subdivision (a) of Section 1218.1, regardless of when it was licensed or whether it was initially licensed using the affiliate process described in Section 1218.1, may do either of the following using the process described in subdivisions (b) to (d), inclusive, of Section 1218.1:
(1) File a change of location.
(2) File a change of ownership, provided that the clinic corporation acquiring ownership meets the requirements of a parent clinic in subdivision (a) of Section 1218.1.
(b) (1) A primary care clinic that meets the conditions for licensure as an affiliate clinic in paragraphs (2) to (4), inclusive, of subdivision (a) of Section 1218.1, regardless of when it was licensed or whether it was initially licensed using the affiliate process described in Section 1218.1, shall be permitted to identify a parent clinic through a simple notice to the department.
(2) If primary care clinic described in paragraph (1) identifies a parent clinic that subsequently closes or surrenders its license, the clinic corporation may designate a new parent clinic that meets the requirements of this section through a simple notice to the department.

SEC. 3.
No reimbursement is required by this act pursuant to Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California Constitution because the only costs that may be incurred by a local agency or school district will be incurred because this act creates a new crime or infraction, eliminates a crime or infraction, or changes the penalty for a crime or infraction, within the meaning of Section 17556 of the Government Code, or changes the definition of a crime within the meaning of Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California Constitution.