Rhode Island Code of Regulations › Title 216 - Department of health › Chapter 20 - Community Health › Subchapter 15 - Information for Health Care Professionals › Part 3 - Use of Latex Gloves by Health Care Workers, in Licensed Health Care Facilities, and by Other Persons, Firms, or Corporations Licensed or Registered by the Department (216-RICR-20-15-3) › Section 216-RICR-20-15-3.3 - Definitions

Current through June 14, 2024
A. Wherever used in these rules and
				  regulations, the following terms shall be construed as follows:
1. "Department" means the Rhode Island
				  Department of Health.
2. "Director"
				  means the Director of the Rhode Island Department of Health.
3. "Health care facility", pursuant to R.I.
				  Gen. Laws Chapter 23-17, means any institutional health service provider,
				  facility or institution, place, building, agency, or portion thereof, whether a
				  partnership or corporation, whether public or private, whether organized for
				  profit or not, used, operated, or engaged in providing health care services,
				  including but not limited to hospitals; nursing facilities; home nursing care
				  provider (which shall include skilled nursing services and may also include
				  activities allowed as a home care provider, or as a nursing service agency);
				  home care provider (which may include services such as personal care or
				  homemaker services or as a nursing service agency); nursing service agency;
				  rehabilitation centers; kidney disease treatment centers; health maintenance
				  organizations; free-standing emergency care facilities, and facilities
				  providing surgical treatment to patients not requiring hospitalization
				  (surgi-centers); hospice care, and physician office settings providing surgical
				  treatment. The term "health care facility" also includes organized ambulatory
				  care facilities which are not part of a hospital but which are organized and
				  operated to provide health care services to outpatients such as central
				  services facilities serving more than one health care facility or health care
				  provider, treatment centers, diagnostic centers, rehabilitation centers,
				  outpatient clinics, infirmaries and health centers, school-based health centers
				  and neighborhood health centers; providing, however, that the term "health care
				  facility" shall not apply to organized ambulatory care facilities owned and
				  operated by professional service corporations as defined in R.I. Gen. Laws
				  Chapter 7-5.1 (the "Professional Service Corporation Law"), or to a private
				  practitioner's (physician, dentist, or other health care provider) office or
				  group of the practitioners' offices (whether owned and/or operated by an
				  individual practitioner, alone or as a member of a partnership, professional
				  service corporation, organization, or association). Individual categories of
				  health care facilities shall be defined in rules and regulations promulgated by
				  the licensing agency with the advice of the Health Services Council. Rules and
				  regulations concerning hospice care shall be promulgated with regard to the
				  "Standards of a Hospice Program of Care", promulgated by national hospice
				  organization. Any provider of hospice care who provides such hospice care
				  without charge shall be exempt from the licensing provisions of R.I. Gen. Laws
				  Chapter 23-17, but shall meet the "Standards of a Hospice Program of Care."
				  Facilities licensed by the Department of Behavioral Health, Developmental
				  Disabilities, and Hospitals, and the Department of Human Services, and clinical
				  laboratories licensed in accordance with R.I. Gen. Laws Chapter 23-16.2, as
				  well as Christian Science institutions (also known as Christian Science Nursing
				  Facilities) listed and certified by the Commission for Accreditation of
				  Christian Science Nursing Organizations/Facilities, Inc. shall not be
				  considered health care facilities for purposes of R.I. Gen. Laws Chapter
				  23-17.
4. "Health care provider"
				  means any person holding a license, certificate, or registration issued by the
				  Director and/or the Department that authorizes the person to provide health
				  care services. For the purposes herein, "health care provider" does not include
				  those persons who are employed by a "health care provider" or those persons
				  employed by a licensed health care facility.
5. "Health care worker" means any person who
				  has or may have direct patient contact in a health care facility, including,
				  but not limited to, a physician, dentist, nurse, optometrist, podiatrist,
				  physical therapist, social worker, pharmacist, or psychologist, and any
				  officer, employee or agent of that provider acting in the course and scope of
				  his or her employment or agency who has or may have exposure to latex gloves or
				  other latex products. For the purposes of these Regulations, "health care
				  worker" shall also mean those non-employee staff, such as volunteers, who are
				  involved in direct patient contact. Transient employees not involved in direct
				  patient contact or outside contractors not involved in direct patient contact
				  are exempt from the requirements stated herein.
6. "Latex gloves" or "natural latex gloves",
				  as used herein, mean gloves that are made, in whole or in part, of natural
				  rubber latex, including gloves that are packed in powder which includes natural
				  rubber latex particles.
7. "Other
				  person, firm, or corporation licensed or registered by the Department", as used
				  herein, means any individual or facility that is licensed or registered by the
				  Department and does not fall into the category of either health care provider
				  or health care facility, as defined herein, and uses latex gloves in the course
				  of rendering services for which the license or registration is issued (e.g.,
				  tattoo artist, hair dresser).
8.
				  "Person" means any individual, trust or estate, partnership, corporation
				  (including associations, joint stock companies), limited liability company,
				  state, or political subdivisions or instrumentality of a state.