Ala. Admin. Code r. 420-5-11-A
CODE OF ALA. 1975, SECTIONS 22-21-20, ET SEQ.
§22-21-20. Definitions. For the purpose of this article, the following terms shall have the meanings respectively ascribed to them by this section:
(2) PERSON. The term includes individuals, partnerships, corporations and associations. (Acts 1975, 3rd Ex. Sess., No. 140, p. 382, §1; Acts 1979, No. 79-798, p. 1461; Acts 1991, No. 91-548, p. 1010, §1; Act 1997, No. 97-632, §1; Act 2001, No. 1058.)
§22-21-21. Purpose of article. The purpose of this article is to promote the public health, safety and welfare by providing for the development, establishment and enforcement of standards for the treatment and care of individuals in institutions within the purview of this article and the establishment, construction, maintenance and operation of such institutions which will promote safe and adequate treatment and care of individuals in such institutions. (Acts 1949, No. 530, p. 835, §1; Acts 1962, Ex. Sess., No. 122, p. 157, §1.)
§22-21-22. License -- Required; exceptions. No person shall establish, conduct or maintain any hospital as defined in Section 22-21-20 without first obtaining the license provided in this article. Hospitals operated by the federal government and mental hospitals under the supervision of the board of trustees of the Alabama State Hospitals shall be exempt from the provisions of this article. (Acts 1949, No. 530, p. 835, §2; Acts 1962, Ex. Sess., No. 122, p. 157, §2.)
§22-21-23. License -- Application. Any person desiring licensing under this article shall apply to the State Board of Health therefor. The applicant shall state the name of the applicant and whether an individual, partnership, corporation or other entity, the type of institution for which a license is desired, the location thereof and the name of the person in direct supervision and charge thereof. The person in charge of such hospital must be at least 19 years of age and of reputable and responsible character. The applicant shall submit evidence of ability to comply with the minimum standards provided in this article or by regulations issued under its authority. (Acts 1949, No. 530, p. 835, §4; Act 2001, No. 1058.)
§22-21-24. License -- Fees; term; form; nontransferable; posting; renewal; hospital licensable when accredited by joint commission. The application for a license to operate a hospital other than an assisted living facility or a specialty care assisted living facility rising to the level of intermediate care shall be accompanied by a standard fee of two hundred dollars ($200), plus a fee of five dollars ($5) per bed for each bed over 10 beds to be licensed in accordance with regulations promulgated under
Section 22-21-28. Increase in a hospital’s bed capacity during the calendar year is assessed at the standard fee of two hundred dollars ($200) plus five dollars ($5) each for the net gain in beds. The initial licensure fee and subsequent annual licensure renewal fee for an assisted living facility and for a specialty care assisted living facility rising to the level of intermediate care shall be two hundred dollars ($200) plus fifteen dollars ($15) for each bed. A license renewal application for any hospital, as defined by this chapter, which is not received by the expiration date in a properly completed form and accompanied by the appropriate renewal fee shall be subject to a late penalty equal to two hundred fifty dollars ($250) or 100 percent of the renewal fee, whichever is greater. No fee shall be refunded. All fees received by the State Board of Health under the provision of this article shall be paid into the State Treasury to the credit of the State Board of Health and shall be used for carrying out the provisions of this article. A license granted under this article shall expire on December 31 of the year in which it was granted. A license certificate shall be on a form prescribed by the department, and shall be posted in a conspicuous place on the licensed premises. Licenses shall not be transferable or assignable and shall be granted only for the premises named in the application. Licenses may be renewed from year to year upon application, investigation, and payment of the required license fee, as in the case of procurement of the original license. All fees collected under this article are hereby appropriated for expenditure by the State Health Department. All hospitals which are accredited by the joint commission on accreditation of hospitals shall be deemed by the State Health Department to be licensable without further inspection or survey by the personnel of the State Department of Health. Further accreditation by the joint commission on accreditation of hospitals shall in no way relieve that hospital of the responsibility of applying for licensure and remitting the appropriate licensure fee as specified in this article. (Acts 1949, No. 530, p. 835, §5; Acts 1975, 3rd Ex. Sess., No. 140, p. 382, §2; Acts 1980, No. 80-642, p. 1213; Acts 1988, 1st Ex. Sess., No. 88-902, p. 470; Act 2001, No. 1058.)
§22-21-25. License -- Issuance; suspension or revocation; new applications after revocation.
(b) The State Board of Health may suspend or revoke a license granted under this article on any of the following grounds:
(d) If a license is revoked as provided in this section, a new application for license shall be considered by the State Board of Health if, when, and after the conditions upon which revocation was based have been corrected and evidence of this fact has been furnished. A new license shall then be granted after proper inspection has been made and all provisions of this article and rules and regulations promulgated under this article have been satisfied. (Acts 1949, No. 530, p. 835, §7; Act 2001, No. 1058.)
§22-21-26. License -- Judicial review of suspension or revocation. Any party aggrieved by a final decision or order of the Board of Health suspending or revoking a license is entitled to a review of such decision or order by taking an appeal to the circuit court of the county in which the hospital is located or is to be located. (Acts 1949, No. 530, p. 835, §11.)
§22-21-27. Advisory board.
(b) The advisory board shall be constituted in the following manner:
(1) Four representatives of hospitals, who shall be appointed by the Board of Trustees of the Alabama Hospital Association as follows:
(9) One member who shall be appointed by the Governor to represent the interests of consumers. The consumer representative shall be at least 65 years of age and shall have no financial interest in any facility licensed under this article.
Each new appointee shall serve for five years or until his successor is appointed, whichever is later. Any vacancy caused by a member leaving the position before the expiration of his or her term shall be filled by the organization selecting the original member. The replacement member appointed shall serve for the remainder of the unexpired term.
(d) Members of the advisory board shall serve without compensation, but shall be entitled to reimbursement for expenses incurred in the performance of the duties of the office at the same rate allowed state employees pursuant to general law. (Acts 1949, No. 530, p. 835, §9; Acts 1959, No. 134, p. 656; Acts 1991, No. 91-548, p. 1010, §1; Act 2001, No. 1058.)
§22-21-28. Rules and regulations.
(c) Regulations adopted under this section shall become effective as provided in the Alabama Administrative Procedure Act. (Acts 1949, No. 530, p. 835, §8; Act 2001, No. 1058.)
§22-21-29. Inspections.
(c) Any employee or contract employee of the state who discloses in advance the date or time of an inspection in violation of subsection (b) shall be guilty of a Class A misdemeanor. Any person who solicits an employee or contract employee of the state to disclose in advance the date or time of an inspection in violation of subsection (b) for the purpose of disclosing the information to others shall be guilty of a Class A misdemeanor. (Acts 1949, No. 530, p. 835, §6; Act 1997, No. 97-632, §1; Act 2001, No. 1058.)
§22-21-30. Disclosure of information. Information received by the State Board of Health through on-site inspections conducted by the State Licensing Agency is subject to public disclosure and may be disclosed upon written request. Information received through means other than inspection will be treated as confidential and shall not be directed publicly except in a proceeding involving the question of licensure or revocation of license. (Acts 1949, No. 530, p. 835, §10; Acts 1975, 3rd Ex. Sess., No. 140, p. 383, §3.)
§22-21-31. Practice of medicine, etc., not authorized; child-placing. Nothing in this article shall be construed as authorizing any person to engage in any manner in the practice of medicine or any other profession nor to authorize any person to engage in the business of child-placing. Any child born in any such institution whose mother is unable to care for such child or any child who, for any reason, will be left destitute of parental support shall be reported to the Department of Human Resources or to any agency authorized or licensed by the Department of Human Resources to engage in child placing for such service as the child and the mother may require. In the rendering of service, representatives of the Department of Human Resources and agencies authorized or licensed by the Department of Human Resources shall have free access to visit the child and the mother concerned. (Acts 1949, No. 530, p. 835, §2; Acts 1962, Ex. Sess., No. 122, p. 157, §2; Act 2001, No. 1058.)
§22-21-32. Repealed by Acts 1977, 1st Ex. Sess., No. 82, p. 1509, §19, effective June 16, 1977.
§22-21-33. Penalty for violation of article, etc. Any individual, association, corporation, partnership, limited liability company, or other business entity who operates or causes to be operated a hospital of any kind as defined in this chapter or any regulations promulgated thereunder without having been granted a license therefore by the State Board of Health shall be guilty of a Class A misdemeanor upon conviction except that the fine may be up to five thousand dollars ($5,000) upon conviction of a second or any subsequent offense. The State Board of Health, upon determination that a facility or business is operating as a hospital within the meaning of this statute or any rules promulgated thereunder, and that the facility does not have a current, valid license granted by the State Board of Health, may apply to the circuit court of the county in which the unlicensed facility is located for declaratory and injunctive relief. The proceedings shall be expedited. The sole evidentiary questions before the court in a proceeding shall be whether the facility that is the subject of the action meets the definition of a hospital within the meaning of this chapter and any rules promulgated thereunder, and whether the facility has been granted a current and valid license to operate by the State Board of Health. If the State Board of Health prevails on these questions, then the court shall, upon request of the State Board of Health, forthwith grant declaratory and injunctive relief requiring the operator or operators to close the facility and requiring the operator or operators to move all residents or patients to appropriate placements. Any individual failing to obey an injunction to close a hospital shall be guilty of a Class A misdemeanor except that the fine may be up to five thousand dollars ($5,000). Any individual, after having once been subject to such an injunction, who shall later operate or cause to be operated a hospital as defined in this chapter or any regulations promulgated thereunder without having been granted a license therefore by the State Board of Health shall be guilty of a Class A misdemeanor except that the fine may be up to five thousand dollars ($5,000). The State Board of Health may, upon the advice of the Attorney General, maintain an action in the name of the state for an injunction to restrain any state, county or local governmental unit, or any division, department, board or agency thereof, or any individual, association, corporation, partnership, limited liability company, or other business entity, from operating, conducting or managing a hospital in violation of any provisions of this article, or any regulation promulgated thereunder. No county or municipality shall grant a business license to a hospital as defined in this chapter unless the facility holds a current license to operate granted by the State Board of Health. In any action to collect a fee for services brought against a resident or patient by a hospital as defined in this chapter or regulations promulgated thereunder, it shall be a defense to the action to demonstrate that the operator of the hospital did not have a current, valid license to operate pursuant to this chapter at the time the services in question were rendered. (Acts 1949, No. 530, p. 835, §12.)
Act 2001, No. 1058. Under the circumstances listed below, an assisted living facility or a specialty care assisted living facility rising to the level of intermediate care may be subject to a civil money penalty imposed by the Board of Health not to exceed ten thousand dollars ($10,000) per instance. The imposition of the penalty may be appealed pursuant to the provisions of the Alabama Administrative Procedure Act. All money penalties imposed pursuant to this section shall be remitted to the Department of Public Health and shall be deposited in the State General Fund. The penalties shall be deposited in the General Fund and shall not be earmarked for the Department of Public Health. Failure of an assisted living facility or a specialty care assisted living facility rising to the level of intermediate care to pay a civil money penalty within 30 days after its imposition or within 30 days after the final disposition of any appeal shall be grounds for license revocation unless arrangements for payment are made that are satisfactory to the State Board of Health. No assisted living facility or specialty care assisted living facility rising to the level of intermediate care may renew its license to operate if it has any unpaid civil money penalties which were imposed more than 30 days prior to the facility’s license expiration date, except for any penalties imposed which are still subject to appeal and except for penalties for which arrangements for payment have been made that are satisfactory to the State Board of Health.
A civil money penalty may be imposed for falsification of any record kept by an assisted living facility or specialty care assisted living facility rising to the level of intermediate care, including a medication administration record or any record or document submitted to the State Board of Health, by an employee or agent of the facility, where such falsification is deliberate and undertaken with intent to mislead the Board of Health, or it agents or employees, or residents, sponsors, family members, another state, county, or municipal government agency, or the public, about any matter of legal compliance, regulatory compliance, compliance with fire or life safety codes, or quality of care.
A civil money penalty may be imposed as a result of a false statement made by an employee or agent of an assisted living facility or a specialty care assisted living facility rising to the level of intermediate care to an employee or agent of the State Board of Health, if the statement is made with intent to deceive or mislead the Board of Health, its agents or employees, about any matter of legal compliance, regulatory compliance, compliance with fire or life safety codes, or quality of care. A civil money penalty shall not be imposed if the facility’s employee or agent makes a false statement when he or she has no reason to believe the false statement is authorized by the administrator or operator of the facility and if it is likely that the facility’s employee or agent made the statement with the intent to cause damage to the facility.
Alabama Department of Public Health
Bureau of Health Provider Standards
Division of Provider Services
201 Monroe Street
P.O. Box 303017
Montgomery, AL 36130-3017
334-206-5175
www.adph.org/providers