North Carolina § 131E-102 - Licensure requirements.

§ 131E-102. Licensure requirements.

No person shall operate a nursing home without a license obtained from the Department. Any person may operate a nursing home or a combination home, as defined in this Part, in the same building or in two or more buildings adjoining or next to each other on the same site. Both a nursing home and a combination home must be licensed by the Department under this Part. Applications shall be available from the Department, and each application filed with the Department shall contain all necessary and reasonable information that the Department may by rule require. A license shall be granted to the applicant upon a determination by the Department that the applicant has complied with the provisions of this Part and the rules promulgated under this Part. The Department shall charge the applicant a nonrefundable annual license fee in the amount of four hundred twenty dollars ($420.00) plus a nonrefundable annual per-bed fee of seventeen dollars and fifty cents ($17.50). A license to operate a nursing home shall be annually renewed upon the filing and the Department's approval of the renewal application. A license shall not be renewed if outstanding fees and penalties imposed by the State against the home have not been paid. Fines and penalties for which an appeal is pending are exempt from consideration. The renewal application shall be available from the Department and shall contain all necessary and reasonable information that the Department may by rule require. Each license shall be issued only for the premises and persons named in the application and shall not be transferable or assignable except with the written approval of the Department. In order for a nursing home to maintain its license it shall not intentionally impede the proper performance of the duties of a lawfully appointed community advisory committee as set forth in G.S. 131E-128(h). History (1961, c. 51, s. 3; 1963, c. 859; 1983, c. 775, s. 1; 1993, c. 530, s. 1; 2003-284, s. 34.3(a); 2005-276, s. 41.2(c); 2009-451, s. 10.76(g).) Editor's Note. - Session Laws 2007-323, s. 10.12, provides: "The Department's Division of Aging and Adult Services shall develop a Quality Improvement Consultation Program for Adult Care Homes. The purpose of the Program is to promote better care and improve quality of life in a safe environment for residents in adult care homes through consultation and assistance with adult care home providers. The county departments of social services shall be responsible for implementation of the Program with all adult care homes located in the respective county, based on a timetable for statewide implementation. "The Division of Aging and Adult Services shall consult with adult care home providers, county departments of social services, consumer advocates, and other interested stakeholders and parties in the development of the Quality Improvement Consultation Program for Adult Care Homes. "The Program will address the following topics: "(1) Principles and philosophies that are resident-centered and promote independence, dignity, and choice for residents; "(2) Approaches to develop continuous quality improvement with a focus on resident satisfaction and optimal outcomes; "(3) Dissemination of best practice models that have been used successfully elsewhere; "(4) A determination of the availability of standardized instruments, and their use to the extent possible, to assess and measure adult care home performance according to quality of life indicators; "(5) Utilization of quality improvement plans for adult care homes that identify and resolve issues that adversely affect quality of care and services to residents. The plans include agreed upon time frames for completion of improvements and identification of needed resources; "(6) Training required to equip county departments of social services' staff to implement the Program; "(7) A distinction of roles between the regulatory role of the Department's Division of Health Service Regulation and the quality improvement consultation and monitoring responsibilities of the county departments of social services; and "(8) Identification of staffing and other resources needed to implement the Program. "The Division of Aging and Adult Services shall conduct a pilot of the Quality Improvement Consultation Program for Adult Care Homes. No more than four county departments of social services shall participate in the pilot. The Division of Aging and Adult Services shall consider geographic balance and size in carrying out the pilot. At the conclusion of the pilot, the Division of Aging and Adult Services shall make recommendations regarding the effectiveness of the Quality Improvement Consultation Program for Adult Care Homes. If the Division recommends expansion of the pilot to other counties or statewide implementation of the Program, its report shall include the cost and a proposed timetable for implementing these recommendations, including the identification of any necessary statutory and administrative rule changes. The recommendations shall be made to the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services, the North Carolina Study Commission on Aging, the Senate Appropriations Committee on Health and Human Services, and the House of Representatives Subcommittee on Health and Human Services." Session Laws 2007-323, s. 1.2, provides: "This act shall be known as the 'Current Operations and Capital Improvements Appropriations Act of 2007'." Session Laws 2007-323, s. 32.3, provides: "Except for statutory changes or other provisions that clearly indicate an intention to have effects beyond the 2007-2009 fiscal biennium, the textual provisions of this act apply only to funds appropriated for, and activities occurring during, the 2007-2009 fiscal biennium." Session Laws 2007-323, s. 32.5, is a severability clause. Effect of Amendments. - Session Laws 2005-276, s. 41.2(c), effective October 1, 2005, in subsection (c), substituted "four hundred fifty dollars ($450.00)" for "two hundred twenty-five dollars ($225.00)" and "twelve dollars and fifty cents ($12.50)" for "six dollars and twenty-five cents ($6.25)." Session Laws 2009-451, s. 10.76(g), effective August 14, 2009, in subsection (b), in the last sentence, substituted "four hundred twenty dollars ($420.00)" for "four hundred fifty dollars ($450.00)" near the middle, and "seventeen dollars and fifty cents ($17.50)" for "dollars and fifty cents ($12.50)" at the end.