Alabama Administrative Code › Title 420 - ALABAMA STATE BOARD OF HEALTH › Chapter 420-5-7 - HOSPITALS › Section 420-5-7-.01 - General Provisions

Current through Register Vol. 42, No. 9, June 28, 2024
(1) Legal
			 Authority for Adoption of Rules. The following rules for hospitals are adopted
			 by the Alabama State Board of Health pursuant to §
								22-21-20, et seq.,
Code of Ala. 1975
.
(2) Definitions
(a) Authorized Bed Capacity means the number
			 of beds a hospital has available for inpatient care. A hospital may by
			 application designate its authorized bed capacity, not to exceed its licensed
			 bed capacity. The term, "Authorized Bed Capacity," shall exclude beds intended
			 for ancillary usage such as labor beds, recovery room beds and stretchers, and
			 bassinets for newborn infants. The authorized bed capacity is also the maximum
			 daily census that a hospital may have admitted in an in-patient capacity. A
			 hospital shall at all times have in place the actual beds and all necessary
			 ancillary equipment for individual patient care equal to the number of its
			 authorized bed capacity. A hospital's authorized bed capacity may be the same
			 as its licensed bed capacity, or it may be some smaller number, but its
			 authorized bed capacity may never exceed its licensed bed capacity.
(b) Board or State Board of Health means the
			 Alabama State Board of Health.
(c)
			 Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist (CRNA) means a registered nurse who
			 meets the requirements and is approved by the Alabama Board of Nursing to
			 practice as a CRNA.
(d) Clinical
			 Psychologist means a person who holds a doctoral degree in psychology and who
			 is currently licensed in Alabama at the independent practice level of
			 psychology to furnish diagnostic, assessment, preventive, and therapeutic
			 services directly to individuals.
(e) Department means the Alabama Department
			 of Public Health.
(f) Governing
			 Authority means owner(s), hospital association, county hospital board, board of
			 directors, board of governors, board of trustees, or any other comparable
			 designation of a body duly organized and constituted for the purpose of owning,
			 acquiring, constructing, equipping, operating, and maintaining a hospital, and
			 exercising control over the affairs of said hospital.
(g) Hospital means a health institution
			 planned, organized, and maintained for offering to the public, facilities and
			 beds for use in the diagnosis and treatment of patients requiring in-patient
			 medical care, out-patient medical care, or other care performed by or under the
			 supervision of physicians due to illness, disease, injury, deformity,
			 abnormality, or pregnancy.
(h)
			 License means the legal authority to operate a hospital as defined above, to
			 admit patients, and to offer and provide care as permitted under these rules. A
			 license may only be granted by the Board through the actions of its authorized
			 agents.
(i) License Certificate
			 means a document issued by the Department showing that the entity named on the
			 document is licensed as a hospital. A license certificate shall contain the
			 signature of the State Health Officer and other seals and markings designed to
			 demonstrate its authenticity. The license certificate shall be posted in a
			 conspicuous place on the hospital premises.
(j) Licensed Bed Capacity means the number of
			 beds for which the facility has a certificate of need, and has been issued a
			 certificate of licensure by the Department. The term "Licensed Bed Capacity"
			 shall exclude beds intended for ancillary usage such as labor beds, recovery
			 room beds and stretchers, and bassinets for newborn infants.
(k) Licensed Practical Nurse means a person
			 who holds an active license issued by the Alabama Board of Nursing.
(l) Physician means a person currently
			 licensed to practice medicine and/or surgery in Alabama under the provisions
			 contained in current state statutes.
(m) Principal means an individual associated
			 with a governing authority or a license applicant in any of the following
			 capacities:
1. Administrator, or
			 equivalent;
2. Chief Executive
			 Officer, or equivalent;
3. Owner of
			 a controlling interest in the governing authority, or, if the governing
			 authority is a subsidiary of another business entity, owner of a controlling
			 interest in the parent business entity;
4. If no person has a controlling interest in
			 the governing authority or in a parent corporation of the governing authority,
			 then an owner of ten percent or more of the governing authority or of any
			 business entity of which the governing authority is a subsidiary.
(n) Registered Nurse means a
			 person who holds an active license issued by the Alabama Board of
			 Nursing.