131E-75. Title; purpose. (a) This Article shall be known as the "Hospital Licensure Act." (b) The purpose of this article is to establish hospital licensing requirements which promote public health, safety and welfare and to provide for the development, establishment and enforcement of basic standards for the care and treatment of patients in hospitals. (1947, […]
131E-76. Definitions. As used in this article, unless otherwise specified: (1) "Commission" means the North Carolina Medical Care Commission. (1a) "Critical access hospital" means a hospital which has been designated as a critical access hospital by the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Research, Demonstrations and Rural Health Development. To be […]
131E-77. Licensure requirement. (a) No person or governmental unit shall establish or operate a hospital in this state without a license. An infirmary is not required to obtain a license under this Part. (b) The Commission shall prescribe by rule that any licensee or prospective applicant seeking to make specified types of alteration or addition […]
131E-78. Adverse action on a license. (a) The Department shall have the authority to deny, suspend, revoke, annul, withdraw, recall, cancel, or amend a license in any case when it finds a substantial failure to comply with the provisions of this Part or any rule promulgated under this Part. (b) Repealed by Session Laws 2007-444, […]
131E-78.5. Designation as primary stroke center. (a) The Department shall designate as a primary stroke center any hospital licensed under this Article that demonstrates to the Department that the hospital is certified by the Joint Commission or other nationally recognized accrediting body that requires conformance to best practices for stroke care in order to be […]
131E-79. Rules and enforcement. (a) The Commission shall promulgate rules necessary to implement this Article. (b) The Department shall enforce this Article and the rules of the Commission. (1947, c. 933, s. 6; 1973, c. 476, s. 152; 1983, c. 775, s. 1.)
131E-79.1. Counseling patients regarding prescriptions. (a) Any hospital or other health care facility licensed pursuant to this Chapter or Chapter 122C of the General Statutes, health maintenance organization, local health department, community health center, medical office, or facility operated by a health care provider licensed under Chapter 90 of the General Statutes, providing patient counseling […]
131E-79.2. Educating parents of newborns regarding pertussis disease. (a) Each hospital licensed under this Article shall provide to the parents of newborns delivered at the hospital free, medically accurate educational information about pertussis disease and the availability of the tetanus-diphtheria and pertussis (Tdap) vaccine to protect against pertussis disease. The hospital shall provide this educational […]
131E-79.3. Hospital patient visitation, civil penalty. (a) Each hospital licensed under this Article shall permit patients to receive visitors to the fullest extent permitted under any applicable rules, regulations, or guidelines adopted by either the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services or the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention or any federal law. (b) In […]
131E-80. Inspections. (a) The Department shall make or cause to be made inspections as it may deem necessary. Any hospital licensed under this Part shall at all times be subject to inspections by the Department according to the rules of the Commission. Except as provided under G.S. 131E-77(b) of this Part, after the hospital’s initial […]
131E-81. Penalties. (a) Any person establishing, conducting, managing, or operating any hospital without a license is guilty of a Class 3 misdemeanor, and upon conviction is only liable for a fine of not more than fifty dollars ($50.00) for the first offense and not more than five hundred dollars ($500.00) for each subsequent offense. Each […]
131E-82. Injunction. (a) Notwithstanding the existence or pursuit of any other remedy, the Department may, in the manner provided by law, maintain an action in the name of the State for injunction or other process against any person or governmental unit to restrain or prevent the establishment, conduct, management or operation of a hospital without […]
131E-83. Temporary change of hospital bed capacity. A hospital may temporarily increase its bed capacity by up to ten percent (10%) over its licensed bed capacity by utilizing observation beds for hospital inpatients if the hospital notifies and obtains the approval of the Division of Health Service Regulation. For purposes of this section, "temporarily" means […]
131E-84. Waiver of rules for hospitals that provide temporary shelter or temporary services during a disaster or emergency. (a) The Division of Health Service Regulation may temporarily waive, during disasters or emergencies declared in accordance with Article 1A of Chapter 166A of the General Statutes, any rules of the Commission pertaining to a hospital to […]
131E-84.05. Patient visitation by clergy, including during declared disasters or emergencies. Notwithstanding G.S. 131E-84, Chapter 166A of the General Statutes, or any other provision of law to the contrary, each hospital licensed under this Article shall allow a clergy member to visit any patient admitted to the hospital who requests or consents to be visited […]
131E-84.1. Human trafficking public awareness sign. Each hospital licensed under this Article shall prominently display in its emergency room or emergency department in a place that is clearly conspicuous and visible to employees and the public a public awareness sign created and provided by the North Carolina Human Trafficking Commission that contains the National Human […]
131E-85. Hospital privileges and procedures. (a) The granting or denial of privileges to practice in hospitals to physicians licensed under Chapter 90 of the General Statutes, Article 1, dentists, optometrists, and podiatrists and the scope and delineation of such privileges shall be determined by the governing body of the hospital on a non-discriminatory basis. Such […]
131E-86. Limited privileges. (a) It shall be unlawful for an individual who is not licensed under Chapter 90 of the General Statutes, Article 1, to admit a patient to a hospital without written proof in accordance with the policy of the governing body of the hospital that a physician licensed under Chapter 90 of the […]
131E-87. Reports of disciplinary action; immunity from liability. The chief administrative officer of each licensed hospital in the State shall report to the appropriate occupational licensing board the details, as prescribed by the board, of any revocation, suspension, limitation, or voluntary reduction of privileges of a health care provider to practice in that hospital. Each […]
131E-90. Authority of administrator; refusal to leave after discharge. The case of a patient who refuses or fails to leave the hospital upon discharge by the attending physician shall be reviewed by two physicians licensed to practice medicine in this State, one of whom may be the attending physician. If in the opinion of the […]
