2023 West Virginia Code › Chapter 16. Public Health › Article 5E. Registration and Inspection of Service Providers in Legally Unlicensed Health Care Homes › §16-5E-2. Definitions

As used in this article, unless a different meaning appears from the context:
(a) "Director" means the secretary of the Department of Health and Human Resources or his or her designee.
(b) "Limited and intermittent nursing care" means direct hands on nursing care of an individual who needs no more than two hours of nursing care per day for a period of no longer than ninety consecutive days per episode, which may only be provided when the need for such care meets the following factors: (1) The resident requests to remain in the home; (2) the resident is advised of the availability of other specialized health care facilities to treat his or her condition; and (3) the need for such care is the result of a medical pathology or a result of normal aging process. Limited and intermittent nursing care shall be provided under the supervision of a registered professional nurse and in accordance with rules promulgated by the director.
(c) "Nursing care" means those procedures commonly employed in providing for the physical, emotional and rehabilitational needs of the ill or otherwise incapacitated which require technical skills and knowledge beyond that which the untrained person possesses, including, but not limited to, such procedures as: Irrigations; catheterization; special procedures contributing to rehabilitation; and administration of medication by any method prescribed by a physician which involves a level of complexity and skill in administration not possessed by the untrained person.
(d) "Personal assistance" means personal services, including, but not limited to, the following: Help in walking, bathing, dressing, feeding or getting in or out of bed, or supervision required because of the age or physical or mental impairment of the resident.
(e) "Resident" means an individual who is provided services, whether or not for a fee, by a service provider, but resident does not include a person receiving services provided by another who is related to him or her or the spouse thereof by blood or marriage, within the degree of consanguinity of the second cousin. Residents, who are incapable of self-preservation, shall be housed only on a ground floor level of the home with direct egress to the outside. A registered unlicensed health care home shall: (1) Provide residents at the time of admission with the name, address and telephone number of the offices of health facility licensure and certification, the state long-term care ombudsman, and adult protective services, all within the Department of Health and Human Resources; and (2) advise residents both orally and in writing of their right to file a complaint with the aforementioned entities.
(f) "Self-preservation" means that a person is at least capable of removing him or her self from situations involving imminent danger, such as fire.
(g) "Service provider" means the individual administratively responsible for providing to consumers for a period of more than twenty-four hours, whether for compensation or not, services of personal assistance for one to three residents and who may require limited and intermittent nursing care, including those individuals who qualify for and are receiving services coordinated by a licensed hospice: Provided, That services utilizing equipment which requires auxiliary electrical power in the event of a power failure may not be used unless the home has a backup power generator.