Existing law requires the State Board of Health to adopt regulations governing the control of communicable diseases in this State, including regulations specifically relating to the control of such diseases in educational, medical and correctional institutions. (NRS 441A.120) Existing law also establishes requirements for: (1) a provider of health care, medical facility or laboratory director to report if a person has or is suspected of having a communicable disease; and (2) the health authority to investigate such reports. (NRS 441A.150-441A.165) This bill establishes certain requirements for the building water systems in covered health care facilities to limit the risk of the transmission of Legionnaires' disease.
Section 5 of this bill defines the term “covered health care facility” to mean: (1) a facility for intermediate care that has been certified by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services of the United States Department of Health and Human Services; (2) a facility for skilled nursing that has been certified by the Centers; (3) a hospital that has been certified by the Centers; and (4) a hospital that has been certified as a critical access hospital.
Sections 2.5-4, 7 and 8 of this bill define certain other terms relating to the provisions of this bill for covered health care facilities.
Section 9 of this bill requires each owner or operator of a covered health care facility to adopt and implement a water management plan for the building water system to minimize the risks of the transmission of Legionnaires' disease by the building water system, which, among other requirements, must: (1) with certain exceptions, be designed by a water management team that includes persons holding certain certifications relating to water management and infection control; and (2) include provisions for monitoring the water from the building water system. Section 9 further requires the owner or operator of the covered health care facility to review the water management plan on an annual basis.
Section 8.5 of this bill requires the Administrator of the Division of Public and Behavioral Health of the Department of Health and Human Services to review each new edition of certain standards relating to water management and Legionellosis for the purposes of the provisions of sections 2-14 of this bill.
Section 11 of this bill requires a provider of health care, medical facility or laboratory director to immediately notify the health authority upon the suspicion or positive diagnosis of Legionnaires' disease connected to a covered health care facility.
Section 12 of this bill requires the Board to adopt regulations to carry out the provisions of sections 2-14.
Section 13 of this bill requires the Board to submit a report to the Governor and the Director of the Legislative Counsel Bureau detailing the occurrence of Legionnaires' disease in this State.
Section 14 of this bill provides that a covered health care facility that violates the provisions of sections 2-14 or any regulation adopted or order issued pursuant thereto is a public nuisance and requires the covered health care facility to abate the nuisance.
As a result of the inclusion of sections 2-14 in chapter 441A of NRS, a person who violates the provisions of sections 2-14 is guilty of a misdemeanor. (NRS 441A.910)