Chapters 2 and 4, Emergency Rulemaking Adoption Notice, including stakeholders concerned with The House Bill 1294

 

To: All Stakeholders, HB 1294 Stakeholder Forum Attendees, Hospitals, Nursing Care Facilities, Assisted Living Residences and Group Homes. From: HFEMSD The Board of Health adopted emergency rules for 6 CCR 1011-1 Chapter 2 – General Licensure Standards, and 6 CCR 1011-1 Chapter 4 – General Hospitals. This adoption occurred on February 15th and the emergency rules are effective that same date. The emergency rules for 6 CCR 1011-1 Chapter 4 – General Hospitals affect hospitals and relate to the reporting of staffed bed capacity and the related definitions and procedures. The emergency rules for 6 CCR 1011-1 Chapter 2 – General Licensure Standards have two parts. The first part affects all licensed health facilities and brings into rule the requirement from Public Health Order 20-20 that facilities maintain an infectious disease, vaccine, and mitigation plan. The emergency rules for 6 CCR 1011-1 Chapter 2 – General Licensure Standards have two parts. The second part affects the following residential care facility types:  All facilities licensed under 6 CCR 1011-1 Chapter 7, e.g. Assisted Living Residences All facilities licensed under 6 CCR 1011-1 Chapter 5, e.g. Skilled Nursing Facilities  All facilities licensed under 6 CCR 1011-1 Chapter 8, e.g. Facilities for Persons with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities, Group Homes, and Intermediate Care Facilities This second part brings into rule the requirement from Public Health Order 20-20 that requires those facilities to appoint an infection control officer, and that appointee’s duties related to infection control and the mitigation of infectious diseases. Public Health Order 20-20 was issued in March 2020 in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, and evolved over the following months and years with input from a wide range of stakeholders and health facilities working with the Department. The recommendations and requirements of those PHO 20-20 has shown to increase awareness and engagement with health facilities regarding infectious disease mitigation and control, as well as sharply reduce the morbidity in health facilities from the same. Stakeholder engagement for 6 CCR 1011-1 Chapter 2 permanent rulemaking is underway. This is occurring within the existing HB 1294 Stakeholder forum. More information about that group and its meetings can be found at this link: HB 1294 Stakeholder Forum Website. The next meeting is scheduled for Thursday, March 2nd, at 2:00 p.m. Stakeholder engagement for 6 CCR 1011-1 Chapter 4 permanent rulemaking is underway. Interested parties can sign up for meeting information at this link: HB 1401 Hospital Rulemaking Interested Parties Request. The next meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, March 21st, at 12:30 p.m.