Opinion ID: 4556154
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Patients Bill of Rights

Text: In addition to protective standards of care designed to provide quality health care (see Health Facilities, supra, 16 Cal.4th at p. 295), nursing care patients are entitled to 8 JARMAN v. HCR MANORCARE, INC. Opinion of the Court by Chin, J. “fundamental human rights” set out in the Patients Bill of Rights. (Cal. Code Regs., tit. 22, § 72527 [regulatory version]; § 1599.1 [statutory version].) These rights include the right “[t]o be free from discrimination” and the right “[t]o be free from mental and physical abuse.” (Cal. Code Regs., tit. 22, § 72527, subd. (a)(8), (10).) A nursing care patient is “[t]o be fully informed” of the rights governing patient conduct, of all services available in the facility and related charges, and of his or her total health status. (Id., subd. (a)(1), (2), (3).) A patient must also receive material information related to any proposed treatment or procedure (id., subd. (a)(5)), and be encouraged to voice grievances and suggest any changes to policies and services (id., subd. (a)(7)). Certain rights in the Patients Bill of Rights are also “expressed as aggregate, facility-wide obligations.” (Shuts v. Covenant Holdco LLC (2012) 208 Cal.App.4th 609, 620 (Shuts), citing § 1599.1.) For instance, a facility must employ an adequate staff, provide residents appropriate food, support an activity program to encourage residents’ self-care, and maintain an operating nurses’ call system. (§ 1599.1, subds. (a), (c), (d), (f); see Shuts, at p. 620.) When adopted by regulation in 1975 and later enacted into statute in 1979, however, the Patients Bill of Rights did not include its own mechanism for enforcement with respect to any violations. (Health Facilities, supra, 16 Cal.4th at p. 302; § 1599.1; see Cal. Code Regs., tit. 22, §§ 72527, 72701, subd. (a)(4); Nevarrez, supra, 221 Cal.App.4th at p. 135.) While section 1430, subdivision (a) (section 1430(a); formerly section 1430) authorized the Attorney General or other interested party to initiate private actions for damages or to seek an injunction against a nursing care facility, its reach was limited. 9 JARMAN v. HCR MANORCARE, INC. Opinion of the Court by Chin, J. As discussed further below (see post, at pp. 16–17), section 1430(a) (formerly section 1430) applied only if the Department failed to take action based on a facility’s class A or B violation (§ 1424, subds. (c)–(e)), and the violation was not corrected to the Department’s satisfaction. (§ 1430(a), added by Stats. 1973, ch. 1057, § 1, p. 2093; see Health Facilities, supra, 16 Cal.4th at p. 302.) By its terms, section 1430(a) does not extend to class C violations. (See Nevarrez, supra, 221 Cal.App.4th at p. 131.)