1.1                          A bill for an act 
  1.2             relating to health; expanding the option to have the 
  1.3             director of nursing serve as the administrator in 
  1.4             certain nursing facilities; amending Minnesota 
  1.5             Statutes 1999 Supplement, section 144A.04, subdivision 
  1.6             5. 
  1.7   BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA: 
  1.8      Section 1.  Minnesota Statutes 1999 Supplement, section 
  1.9   144A.04, subdivision 5, is amended to read: 
  1.10     Subd. 5.  [ADMINISTRATORS.] Except as otherwise provided by 
  1.11  this subdivision, a nursing home must have a full time licensed 
  1.12  nursing home administrator serving the facility.  
  1.13  Notwithstanding sections 144A.18 to 144A.27, in any nursing home 
  1.14  of less than 32 45 beds, the director of nursing services may 
  1.15  also serve as the licensed nursing home administrator without 
  1.16  being licensed as a nursing home administrator, provided the 
  1.17  director of nursing services has passed the state law and rules 
  1.18  examination administered by the board of examiners for nursing 
  1.19  home administrators and maintains evidence of completion of 20 
  1.20  hours of continuing education each year on topics pertinent to 
  1.21  nursing home administration.  Two nursing homes under common 
  1.22  ownership or management pursuant to a lease or management 
  1.23  contract having a total of 150 beds or less and located within 
  1.24  75 miles of each other may share the services of a licensed 
  1.25  administrator if the administrator divides the full-time work 
  1.26  week between the two facilities in proportion to the number of 
  2.1   beds in each facility.  Every nursing home shall have a 
  2.2   person-in-charge on the premises at all times in the absence of 
  2.3   the licensed administrator.  The name of the person in charge 
  2.4   must be posted in a conspicuous place in the facility.  The 
  2.5   commissioner of health shall by rule promulgate minimum 
  2.6   education and experience requirements for persons-in-charge, and 
  2.7   may promulgate rules specifying the times of day during which a 
  2.8   licensed administrator must be on the nursing home's premises.  
  2.9   In the absence of rules adopted by the commissioner governing 
  2.10  the division of an administrator's time between two nursing 
  2.11  homes, the administrator shall designate and post the times the 
  2.12  administrator will be on site in each home on a regular basis.  
  2.13  A nursing home may employ as its administrator the administrator 
  2.14  of a hospital licensed pursuant to sections 144.50 to 144.56 if 
  2.15  the individual is licensed as a nursing home administrator 
  2.16  pursuant to section 144A.20 and the nursing home and hospital 
  2.17  have a combined total of 150 beds or less and are located within 
  2.18  one mile of each other.  A nonproprietary retirement home having 
  2.19  fewer than 15 licensed nursing home beds may share the services 
  2.20  of a licensed administrator with a nonproprietary nursing home, 
  2.21  having fewer than 150 licensed nursing home beds, that is 
  2.22  located within 25 miles of the retirement home.  A nursing home 
  2.23  which is located in a facility licensed as a hospital pursuant 
  2.24  to sections 144.50 to 144.56, may employ as its administrator 
  2.25  the administrator of the hospital if the individual meets 
  2.26  minimum education and long term care experience criteria set by 
  2.27  rule of the commissioner of health.