A. The Board shall have the authority to adopt and enforce regulations to carry out the provisions of this subtitle and to protect the health, safety, welfare, and individual rights of residents of assisted living facilities and to promote their highest level of functioning. Such regulations shall take into consideration cost constraints of smaller operations in complying with such regulations and shall provide a procedure whereby a licensee or applicant may request, and the Commissioner may grant, an allowable variance to a regulation pursuant to § 63.2-1703.
B. Regulations shall include standards for staff qualifications and training; facility design, functional design, and equipment; services to be provided to residents; administration of medicine; allowable medical conditions for which care can be provided; and medical procedures to be followed by staff, including provisions for physicians’ services, restorative care, and specialized rehabilitative services. The Board shall adopt regulations on qualifications and training for employees of an assisted living facility in a direct care position. “Direct care position” means supervisors, assistants, aides, or other employees of a facility who assist residents in their daily living activities.
C. Regulations for a Medication Management Plan in a licensed assisted living facility shall be developed by the Board, in consultation with the Board of Nursing and the Board of Pharmacy. Such regulations shall (i) establish the elements to be contained within a Medication Management Plan, including a demonstrated understanding of the responsibilities associated with medication management by the facility; standard operating and record-keeping procedures; staff qualifications, training and supervision; documentation of daily medication administration; and internal monitoring of plan conformance by the facility; (ii) include a requirement that each assisted living facility shall establish and maintain a written Medication Management Plan that has been approved by the Department; and (iii) provide that a facility’s failure to conform to any approved Medication Management Plan shall be subject to the sanctions set forth in § 63.2-1709 or 63.2-1709.2.
D. The Board shall amend 22VAC40-73-450 governing assisted living facility individualized service plans to require (i) that individualized service plans be reviewed and updated (a) at least once every 12 months or (b) sooner if modifications to the plan are needed due to a significant change, as defined in 22VAC40-73-10, in the resident’s condition and (ii) that any deviation from the individualized service plan (a) be documented in writing or electronically, (b) include a description of the circumstances warranting deviation and the date such deviation will occur, (c) certify that notice of such deviation was provided to the resident or his legal representative, (d) be included in the resident’s file, and (e) in the case of deviations that are made due to a significant change in the resident’s condition, be signed by an authorized representative of the assisted living facility and the resident or his legal representative.
E. Regulations shall require all licensed assisted living facilities with six or more residents to be able to connect by July 1, 2007, to a temporary emergency electrical power source for the provision of electricity during an interruption of the normal electric power supply. The installation shall be in compliance with the Uniform Statewide Building Code.
F. Regulations for medical procedures in assisted living facilities shall be developed in consultation with the State Board of Health and adopted by the Board, and compliance with these regulations shall be determined by Department of Health or Department inspectors as provided by an interagency agreement between the Department and the Department of Health.
G. In developing regulations to determine the number of assisted living facilities for which an assisted living facility administrator may serve as administrator of record, the Board shall consider (i) the number of residents in each of the facilities, (ii) the travel time between each of the facilities, and (iii) the qualifications of the on-site manager under the supervision of the administrator of record.
H. Regulations shall require that each assisted living facility register with the Department of State Police to receive notice of the registration, reregistration, or verification of registration information of any person required to register with the Sex Offender and Crimes Against Minors Registry pursuant to Chapter 9 (§ 9.1-900 et seq.) of Title 9.1 within the same or a contiguous zip code area in which the facility is located, pursuant to § 9.1-914.
I. Regulations shall require that each assisted living facility ascertain, prior to admission, whether a potential resident is required to register with the Sex Offender and Crimes Against Minors Registry pursuant to Chapter 9 (§ 9.1-900 et seq.) of Title 9.1, if the facility anticipates the potential resident will have a length of stay greater than three days or in fact stays longer than three days.
J. During a declared public health emergency related to a communicable disease of public health threat, regulations shall require each assisted living facility to establish a protocol to allow residents to receive visits from a rabbi, priest, minister, or clergy of any religious denomination or sect consistent with guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services and subject to compliance with any executive order, order of public health, Department guidance, or any other applicable federal or state guidance having the effect of limiting visitation. Such protocol may restrict the frequency and duration of visits and may require visits to be conducted virtually using interactive audio or video technology. Any such protocol may require the person visiting a resident pursuant to this subsection to comply with all reasonable requirements of the assisted living facility adopted to protect the health and safety of the person, residents, and staff of the assisted living facility.