Fla. Stat. § 408.032 – Definitions

As used in ss. 408.031-408.045, the term:

(1) "Agency" means the Agency for Health Care Administration.
(2) "Capital expenditure" means an expenditure, including an expenditure for a construction project undertaken by a health care facility as its own contractor, which, under generally accepted accounting principles, is not properly chargeable as an expense of operation and maintenance, which is made to change the bed capacity of the facility, or substantially change the services or service area of the health care facility, health service provider, or hospice, and which includes the cost of the studies, surveys, designs, plans, working drawings, specifications, initial financing costs, and other activities essential to acquisition, improvement, expansion, or replacement of the plant and equipment.
(3) "Certificate of need" means a written statement issued by the agency evidencing community need for a new, converted, expanded, or otherwise significantly modified health care facility, health service, or hospice.
(4) "Commenced construction" means initiation of and continuous activities beyond site preparation associated with erecting or modifying a health care facility, including procurement of a building permit applying the use of agency-approved construction documents, proof of an executed owner/contractor agreement or an irrevocable or binding forced account, and actual undertaking of foundation forming with steel installation and concrete placing.
(5) "District" means a health service planning district composed of the following counties:
District 1.--Escambia, Santa Rosa, Okaloosa, and Walton Counties.
District 2.--Holmes, Washington, Bay, Jackson, Franklin, Gulf, Gadsden, Liberty, Calhoun, Leon, Wakulla, Jefferson, Madison, and Taylor Counties.
District 3.--Hamilton, Suwannee, Lafayette, Dixie, Columbia, Gilchrist, Levy, Union, Bradford, Putnam, Alachua, Marion, Citrus, Hernando, Sumter, and Lake Counties.
District 4.--Baker, Nassau, Duval, Clay, St. Johns, Flagler, and Volusia Counties.
District 5.--Pasco and Pinellas Counties.
District 6.--Hillsborough, Manatee, Polk, Hardee, and Highlands Counties.
District 7.--Seminole, Orange, Osceola, and Brevard Counties.
District 8.--Sarasota, DeSoto, Charlotte, Lee, Glades, Hendry, and Collier Counties.
District 9.--Indian River, Okeechobee, St. Lucie, Martin, and Palm Beach Counties.
District 10.--Broward County.
District 11.--Dade and Monroe Counties.
(6) "Expedited review" means the process by which certain types of applications are not subject to the review cycle requirements contained in s. 408.039(1), and the letter of intent requirements contained in s. 408.039(2).
(7) "Health care facility" means a hospital, long-term care hospital, skilled nursing facility, hospice, intermediate care facility, or intermediate care facility for the developmentally disabled. A facility relying solely on spiritual means through prayer for healing is not included as a health care facility.
(8) "Health services" means diagnostic, curative, or rehabilitative services and includes alcohol treatment, drug abuse treatment, and mental health services.
(9) "Home health agency" means an organization, as defined in s. 400.462(4), that is certified or seeks certification as a Medicare home health service provider.
(10) "Hospice" or "hospice program" means a hospice as defined in part VI of chapter 400.
(11) "Hospital" means a health care facility licensed under chapter 395.
(12) "Institutional health service" means a health service which is provided by or through a health care facility and which entails an annual operating cost of $500,000 or more. The agency shall, by rule, adjust the annual operating cost threshold annually using an appropriate inflation index.
(13) "Intermediate care facility" means an institution which provides, on a regular basis, health-related care and services to individuals who do not require the degree of care and treatment which a hospital or skilled nursing facility is designed to provide, but who, because of their mental or physical condition, require health-related care and services above the level of room and board.
(14) "Intermediate care facility for the developmentally disabled" means a residential facility licensed under chapter 393 and certified by the Federal Government pursuant to the Social Security Act as a provider of Medicaid services to persons who are mentally retarded or who have a related condition.
(15) "Long-term care hospital" means a hospital licensed under chapter 395 which meets the requirements of 42 C.F.R. s. 412.23(e) and seeks exclusion from the Medicare prospective payment system for inpatient hospital services.
(16) "Multifacility project" means an integrated residential and health care facility consisting of independent living units, assisted living facility units, and nursing home beds certificated on or after January 1, 1987, where:
1. (a) The aggregate total number of independent living units and assisted living facility units exceeds the number of nursing home beds.
2. (b) The developer of the project has expended the sum of $500,000 or more on the certificated and noncertificated elements of the project combined, exclusive of land costs, by the conclusion of the 18th month of the life of the certificate of need.
3. (c) The total aggregate cost of construction of the certificated element of the project, when combined with other, noncertificated elements, is $10 million or more.
4. (d) All elements of the project are contiguous or immediately adjacent to each other and construction of all elements will be continuous.
(17) "Nursing home geographically underserved area" means:
1. (a) A county in which there is no existing or approved nursing home;
2. (b) An area with a radius of at least 20 miles in which there is no existing or approved nursing home; or
3. (c) An area with a radius of at least 20 miles in which all existing nursing homes have maintained at least a 95 percent occupancy rate for the most recent 6 months or a 90 percent occupancy rate for the most recent 12 months.
(18) "Respite care" means short-term care in a licensed health care facility which is personal or custodial and is provided for chronic illness, physical infirmity, or advanced age for the purpose of temporarily relieving family members of the burden of providing care and attendance.
(19) "Skilled nursing facility" means an institution, or a distinct part of an institution, which is primarily engaged in providing, to inpatients, skilled nursing care and related services for patients who require medical or nursing care, or rehabilitation services for the rehabilitation of injured, disabled, or sick persons.
(20) "Tertiary health service" means a health service which, due to its high level of intensity, complexity, specialized or limited applicability, and cost, should be limited to, and concentrated in, a limited number of hospitals to ensure the quality, availability, and cost-effectiveness of such service. Examples of such service include, but are not limited to, organ transplantation, specialty burn units, neonatal intensive care units, comprehensive rehabilitation, and medical or surgical services which are experimental or developmental in nature to the extent that the provision of such services is not yet contemplated within the commonly accepted course of diagnosis or treatment for the condition addressed by a given service. The agency shall establish by rule a list of all tertiary health services.
(21) "Regional area" means any of those regional health planning areas established by the agency to which local and district health planning funds are directed to local health councils through the General Appropriations Act.

History.--s. 19, ch. 87-92; s. 19, ch. 88-294; s. 2, ch. 89-308; s. 7, ch. 89-354; s. 21, ch. 91-158; s. 54, ch. 91-221; s. 1, ch. 91-282; ss. 15, 16, ch. 92-33; s. 10, ch. 92-58; s. 22, ch. 93-214; s. 8, ch. 95-144; s. 28, ch. 95-210; s. 2, ch. 95-394; s. 1, ch. 97-270.

Note.--Former s. 381.702.