ARTICLE 1. General Provisions [1416 - 1416.6]
( Article 1 added by Stats. 2001, Ch. 687, Sec. 5. )
This chapter shall be known and may be cited as the Nursing Home Administrators’ Act.
(Added by Stats. 2001, Ch. 687, Sec. 5. Effective January 1, 2002.)
There is hereby established in the State Department of Health Services a Nursing Home Administrator Program (NHAP), which shall license and regulate nursing home administrators.
(Added by Stats. 2001, Ch. 687, Sec. 5. Effective January 1, 2002.)
(a) The following definitions shall apply to this chapter:
(1) “Department” means the State Department of Health Services.
(2) “NHAP” or “program” means the Nursing Home Administrator Program.
(3) “State” means California, unless applied to the different parts of the United States. In this latter case, “state” includes the District of Columbia and the territories.
(4) “Nursing home” means any institution, facility, place, building, or agency, or portion thereof, licensed as a skilled nursing facility, intermediate care facility, or intermediate care facility/developmentally disabled, as defined in Chapter 2 (commencing with Section 1250). “Nursing home” also means an intermediate care facility/developmentally disabled habilitative, intermediate care facility/developmentally disabled-nursing, or congregate living health facility, as defined in Chapter 2 (commencing with Section 1250), if a licensed nursing home administrator is charged with the general administration of the facility.
(5) “Nursing home administrator” means an individual educated and trained within the field of nursing home administration who carries out the policies of the licensee of a nursing home and is licensed in accordance with this chapter. The nursing home
administrator is charged with the general administration of a nursing home, regardless of whether he or she has an ownership interest and whether the administrator’s function or duties are shared with one or more other individuals.
(6) “Administrator-in-Training Program” or “AIT Program” means a program that is approved by the NHAP in which qualified persons participate under the coordination, supervision, and teaching of a preceptor, as described in Section 1416.57, who has obtained approval from the NHAP.
(b) Nothing in this section shall be construed to allow the program to have jurisdiction over an administrator of an intermediate care facility/developmentally disabled-nursing or an intermediate care facility/developmentally disabled habilitative, if the administrator of the facility is not using licensure under this chapter to qualify as an administrator in accordance
with subdivision (d) of Section 1276.5.
(c) Nothing in this section shall be construed to define an intermediate care facility/developmentally disabled-nursing or an intermediate care facility/developmentally disabled habilitative as a nursing home for purposes other than the licensure of nursing home administrators under this chapter.
(Added by Stats. 2001, Ch. 687, Sec. 5. Effective January 1, 2002.)
The program shall adopt rules and regulations that are reasonably necessary to carry out this chapter. The rules and regulations shall be adopted, amended, and repealed in accordance with Chapter 3.5 (commencing with Section 11340) of Part 1 of Division 3 of Title 2 of the Government Code. To the extent that the regulations governing the nursing home administrator program that are in effect prior to January 1, 2002, are not in conflict with this chapter, they shall remain in effect until new regulations are implemented for purposes of this
chapter.
(Added by Stats. 2001, Ch. 687, Sec. 5. Effective January 1, 2002.)
(a) It shall be a misdemeanor for any person to act or serve in the capacity of a nursing home administrator, unless he or she is the holder of an active nursing home administrator’s license issued in accordance with this chapter. Persons carrying out functions and duties delegated by a licensed nursing home administrator shall not be acting in violation of this chapter.
(b) (1) This chapter shall not apply to any person who serves as an acting
administrator as provided in this subdivision when a licensed administrator is not available because of death, illness, or any other reason.
(2) A person who is acting as an administrator shall notify the program in writing within five days of acting in this capacity and provide factual information and specific circumstances necessitating the use of an acting administrator.
(3) No person shall act as an administrator for more than 10 days unless arrangements have been made for part-time supervision of his or her activities by a nursing home administrator who holds a license or provisional license under this chapter. Supervision shall include at least 8 hours per week of direct onsite supervision by the licensed administrator. The program shall be notified in writing of the nature of this arrangement. No person shall act as an administrator for more than two months without the
written approval of the program. The program shall not approve a person to act as an administrator for more than six months.
(4) If the acting administrator is an administrator in training, then the supervision required by paragraph (3) may be counted towards the total hours of supervised training required by subdivision (f) of Section 1416.57.
(c) Notwithstanding subdivision (b), an individual acting as an administrator for more than 10 days must have management experience in a health facility.
(Added by Stats. 2001, Ch. 687, Sec. 5. Effective January 1, 2002.)