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1 AN ACT concerning emergency services.
2 Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
3 represented in the General Assembly:
4 Section 5. The Emergency Medical Services (EMS) Systems
5 Act is amended by changing Section 32.5 as follows:
6 (210 ILCS 50/32.5)
7 Sec. 32.5. Freestanding Emergency Center; demonstration
8 program.
9 (a) The Department shall issue an annual Freestanding
10 Emergency Center (FEC) license to any facility that:
11 (1) is located: (i)(A) in a municipality with a
12 population of 75,000 60,000 or fewer inhabitants; (B)
13 within 15 miles of the hospital that owns or controls the
14 FEC; and (C) within 10 miles of the Resource Hospital
15 affiliated with the FEC as part of the EMS System; or
16 (ii) either (A) in a municipality that has a hospital
17 that has been providing emergency services but is
18 expected to close by the end of 1997 and or (B) in a
19 county with a population of more than 350,000 but less
20 than 525,000 500,000 inhabitants; (iii) within 15 miles
21 of the hospital that owns or controls the FEC; and (iv)
22 within 10 miles of the Resource Hospital affiliated with
23 the FEC as part of the EMS System;
24 (2) is wholly owned or controlled by an Associate
25 or Resource Hospital, but is not a part of the hospital's
26 physical plant;
27 (3) meets the standards for licensed FECs, adopted
28 by rule of the Department, including, but not limited to:
29 (A) facility design, specification, operation,
30 and maintenance standards;
31 (B) equipment standards; and
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1 (C) the number and qualifications of emergency
2 medical personnel and other staff, which must
3 include at least one board certified emergency
4 physician present at the FEC 24 hours per day.
5 (4) limits its participation in the EMS System
6 strictly to receiving a limited number of BLS runs by
7 emergency medical vehicles according to protocols
8 developed by the Resource Hospital within the FEC's
9 designated EMS System and approved by the Project Medical
10 Director and the Department;
11 (5) provides comprehensive emergency treatment
12 services, as defined in the rules adopted by the
13 Department pursuant to the Hospital Licensing Act, 24
14 hours per day, on an outpatient basis;
15 (6) provides an ambulance and maintains on site
16 ambulance services staffed with paramedics 24 hours per
17 day;
18 (7) maintains helicopter landing capabilities
19 approved by appropriate State and federal authorities;
20 (8) complies with all State and federal patient
21 rights provisions, including, but not limited to, the
22 Emergency Medical Treatment Act and the federal Emergency
23 Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act;
24 (9) maintains a communications system that is fully
25 integrated with its Resource Hospital within the FEC's
26 designated EMS System;
27 (10) reports to the Department any patient
28 transfers from the FEC to a hospital within 48 hours of
29 the transfer plus any other data determined to be
30 relevant by the Department;
31 (11) submits to the Department, on a quarterly
32 basis, the FEC's morbidity and mortality rates for
33 patients treated at the FEC and other data determined to
34 be relevant by the Department;
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1 (12) does not describe itself or hold itself out to
2 the general public as a full service hospital or hospital
3 emergency department in its advertising or marketing
4 activities;
5 (13) complies with any other rules adopted by the
6 Department under this Act that relate to FECs;
7 (14) passes the Department's site inspection for
8 compliance with the FEC requirements of this Act;
9 (15) submits a copy of a certificate of need or
10 other permit issued by the Illinois Health Facilities
11 Planning Board indicating that the facility that will
12 house the proposed FEC complies with State health
13 planning laws; provided, however, that the Illinois
14 Health Facilities Planning Board shall waive this
15 certificate of need or permit requirement for any
16 proposed FEC that, as of the effective date of this
17 amendatory Act of 1996, meets the criteria for providing
18 comprehensive emergency treatment services, as defined by
19 the rules promulgated under the Hospital Licensing Act,
20 but is not a licensed hospital;
21 (16) submits an application for designation as an
22 FEC in a manner and form prescribed by the Department by
23 rule; and
24 (17) pays the annual license fee as determined by
25 the Department by rule; and.
26 (18) participated in the demonstration program.
27 (b) The Department shall:
28 (1) annually inspect facilities of initial FEC
29 applicants and licensed FECs, and issue annual licenses
30 to or annually relicense FECs that satisfy the
31 Department's licensure requirements as set forth in
32 subsection (a);
33 (2) suspend, revoke, refuse to issue, or refuse to
34 renew the license of any FEC, after notice and an
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1 opportunity for a hearing, when the Department finds that
2 the FEC has failed to comply with the standards and
3 requirements of the Act or rules adopted by the
4 Department under the Act;
5 (3) issue an Emergency Suspension Order for any FEC
6 when the Director or his or her designee has determined
7 that the continued operation of the FEC poses an
8 immediate and serious danger to the public health,
9 safety, and welfare. An opportunity for a hearing shall
10 be promptly initiated after an Emergency Suspension Order
11 has been issued; and
12 (4) adopt rules as needed to implement this
13 Section.
14 (c) The FEC demonstration program shall be conducted for
15 an initial review period concluding on September 1, 2001.
16 If, by that date, the Department determines that the
17 demonstration program is operating in a manner consistent
18 with the purposes of this Act, the program shall continue and
19 sunset on September 1, 2003. The Department shall submit a
20 report concerning the effectiveness of the demonstration
21 program to the General Assembly by September 1, 2002.
22 An FEC license issued pursuant to this Section shall
23 expire upon the termination of the demonstration program.
24 (Source: P.A. 90-67, eff. 7-8-97; 91-385, eff. 7-30-99.)