State Codes and Statutes
Statutes > Connecticut > Title17b > Chap319y > Sec17b-352Sec. 17b-352. Certificate of need for nursing home facilities; transfer of ownership or control; introduction of additional function or service; termination or decrease of service. Notice to Office of the Long-Term Care Ombudsman. Notice and public hearing requirements. Regulations. (a) For the purposes of this section and section 17b-353, "facility" means a residential facility for the mentally retarded licensed pursuant to section 17a-277 and certified to participate in the Title XIX Medicaid program as an intermediate care facility for the mentally retarded, a nursing home, rest home or residential care home, as defined in section 19a-490.
(b) Any facility which intends to (1) transfer all or part of its ownership or control prior to being initially licensed; (2) introduce any additional function or service into its program of care or expand an existing function or service; or (3) terminate a service or decrease substantially its total bed capacity, shall submit a complete request for permission to implement such transfer, addition, expansion, increase, termination or decrease with such information as the department requires to the Department of Social Services, provided no permission or request for permission to close a facility is required when a facility in receivership is closed by order of the Superior Court pursuant to section 19a-545. The Office of the Long-Term Care Ombudsman pursuant to section 17b-400 shall be notified by the facility of any proposed actions pursuant to this subsection at the same time the request for permission is submitted to the department and when a facility in receivership is closed by order of the Superior Court pursuant to section 19a-545.
(c) An applicant, prior to submitting a certificate of need application, shall request, in writing, application forms and instructions from the department. The request shall include: (1) The name of the applicant or applicants; (2) a statement indicating whether the application is for (A) a new, additional, expanded or replacement facility, service or function, (B) a termination or reduction in a presently authorized service or bed capacity or (C) any new, additional or terminated beds and their type; (3) the estimated capital cost; (4) the town where the project is or will be located; and (5) a brief description of the proposed project. Such request shall be deemed a letter of intent. No certificate of need application shall be considered submitted to the department unless a current letter of intent, specific to the proposal and in accordance with the provisions of this subsection, has been on file with the department for not less than ten business days. For purposes of this subsection, "a current letter of intent" means a letter of intent on file with the department for not more than one hundred eighty days. A certificate of need application shall be deemed withdrawn by the department, if a department completeness letter is not responded to within one hundred eighty days. The Office of the Long-Term Care Ombudsman shall be notified by the facility at the same time as the letter of intent is submitted to the department.
(d) Any facility acting pursuant to subdivision (3) of subsection (b) of this section shall provide written notice, at the same time it submits its letter of intent, to all patients, guardians or conservators, if any, or legally liable relatives or other responsible parties, if known, and shall post such notice in a conspicuous location at the facility. The notice shall state the following: (A) The projected date the facility will be submitting its certificate of need application, (B) that only the department has the authority to either grant, modify or deny the application, (C) that the department has up to ninety days to grant, modify or deny the certificate of need application, (D) a brief description of the reason or reasons for submitting a request for permission, (E) that no patient shall be involuntarily transferred or discharged within or from a facility pursuant to state and federal law because of the filing of the certificate of need application, (F) that all patients have a right to appeal any proposed transfer or discharge, and (G) the name, mailing address and telephone number of the Office of the Long-Term Care Ombudsman and local legal aid office.
(e) The department shall review a request made pursuant to subsection (b) of this section to the extent it deems necessary, including, but not limited to, in the case of a proposed transfer of ownership or control prior to initial licensure, the financial responsibility and business interests of the transferee and the ability of the facility to continue to provide needed services, or in the case of the addition or expansion of a function or service, ascertaining the availability of the function or service at other facilities within the area to be served, the need for the service or function within the area and any other factors the department deems relevant to a determination of whether the facility is justified in adding or expanding the function or service. The commissioner shall grant, modify or deny the request within ninety days of receipt thereof, except as otherwise provided in this section. Upon the request of the applicant, the review period may be extended for an additional fifteen days if the department has requested additional information subsequent to the commencement of the commissioner's review period. The director of the office of certificate of need and rate setting may extend the review period for a maximum of thirty days if the applicant has not filed in a timely manner information deemed necessary by the department. The applicant may request and shall receive a hearing in accordance with section 4-177 if aggrieved by a decision of the commissioner.
(f) The Commissioner of Social Services shall not approve any requests for beds in residential facilities for the mentally retarded which are licensed pursuant to section 17a-227 and are certified to participate in the Title XIX Medicaid Program as intermediate care facilities for the mentally retarded, except those beds necessary to implement the residential placement goals of the Department of Developmental Services which are within available appropriations.
(g) The Commissioner of Social Services shall adopt regulations, in accordance with chapter 54, to implement the provisions of this section. The commissioner shall implement the standards and procedures of the Office of Health Care Access concerning certificates of need established pursuant to section 19a-643, as appropriate for the purposes of this section, until the time final regulations are adopted in accordance with said chapter 54.
(P.A. 93-262, S. 21, 87; P.A. 94-236, S. 1, 10; P.A. 95-257, S. 39, 58; P.A. 97-112, S. 2; June 18 Sp. Sess. P.A. 97-2, S. 147, 165; P.A. 02-135, S. 1; June 30 Sp. Sess. P.A. 03-3, S. 78; P.A. 07-73, S. 2(a).)
History: P.A. 93-262 effective July 1, 1993; P.A. 94-236 amended Subsec. (c) to permit the director of the office of certificate of need and rate setting to extend the review period instead of the commissioner, to provide for a hearing and made technical changes in the section, effective June 7, 1994; P.A. 95-257 replaced Commission on Hospitals and Health Care with Office of Health Care Access, effective July 1, 1995; P.A. 97-112 replaced "home for the aged" with "residential care home" in Subsec. (a); June 18 Sp. Sess. P.A. 97-2 added a new Subsec. (c) concerning requirements for the application procedure prior to submitting a certificate of need application, and redesignated existing Subsecs. accordingly, effective July 1, 1997; P.A. 02-135 amended Subsecs. (b) and (c) by adding provision re notification to the Office of the Long-Term Care Ombudsman, added new Subsec. (d) re requirements of notification and redesignated existing Subsecs. (d) to (f) as Subsecs. (e) to (g); June 30 Sp. Sess. P.A. 03-3 amended Subsec. (b) to provide that permission from Department of Social Services is not required to close a facility in receivership which has been ordered closed by the court, to require notification of Office of Long-Term Care Ombudsmen when a facility in receivership is ordered closed by the court and to make a technical change, effective August 20, 2003; pursuant to P.A. 07-73 "Department of Mental Retardation" was changed editorially by the Revisors to "Department of Developmental Services", effective October 1, 2007.
