Wisconsin Statutes & Annotations
Chapter 50 - Uniform licensure.
50.02 - Department; powers and duties.

50.02 Department; powers and duties.
(1) Departmental authority. The department may provide uniform, statewide licensing, inspection, and regulation of community-based residential facilities and nursing homes as provided in this subchapter. The department shall certify, inspect, and otherwise regulate adult family homes, as specified under s. 50.032 and shall license adult family homes, as specified under s. 50.033. Nothing in this subchapter may be construed to limit the authority of the department of safety and professional services or of municipalities to set standards of building safety and hygiene, but any local orders of municipalities shall be consistent with uniform, statewide regulation of community-based residential facilities. The department may not prohibit any nursing home from distributing over-the-counter drugs from bulk supply. The department may consult with nursing homes as needed and may provide specialized consultations when requested by any nursing home, separate from its inspection process, to scrutinize any particular questions the nursing home raises. The department shall, by rule, define “specialized consultation".
(2) Standards.
(a) The department, by rule, shall develop, establish and enforce regulations and standards for the care, treatment, health, safety, rights, welfare and comfort of residents in community-based residential facilities and nursing homes and for the construction, general hygiene, maintenance and operation of those facilities which, in the light of advancing knowledge, will promote safe and adequate accommodation, care and treatment of residents in those facilities; and promulgate and enforce rules consistent with this section. Such standards and rules shall provide that intermediate care facilities, which have 16 or fewer beds may, if exempted from meeting certain physical plant, staffing and other requirements of the federal regulations, be exempted from meeting the corresponding provisions of the department's standards and rules. The department shall consult with the department of safety and professional services when developing exemptions relating to physical plant requirements.
(ad) The department shall promulgate rules that require each facility licensed under this subchapter to provide information necessary for the department to assess the facility's compliance with s. 55.14.
(ag) The department shall, by rule, define “Class A" and “Class C" community-based residential facilities for the purposes of s. 50.035 (3).
(am) The department shall promulgate all of the following rules with respect to adult family homes:
1. For the purposes of s. 50.032, defining the term “permanent basis" and establishing minimum requirements for certification, certification application procedures and forms, standards for operation and procedures for monitoring, inspection, decertification and appeal of decertification. The rules shall be designed to protect and promote the health, safety and welfare of the disabled adults receiving care and maintenance in certified adult family homes.
2. For the purposes of s. 50.033, establishing minimum requirements for licensure, licensure application procedures and forms, standards for operation and procedures for monitoring, inspection, revocation and appeal of revocation.
(b)
1. The department shall conduct plan reviews of all capital construction and remodeling of nursing homes to ensure that the plans comply with building code requirements under ch. 101 and with life safety code and physical plant requirements under s. 49.498, this chapter or under rules promulgated under this chapter.
2. The department shall promulgate rules that establish a fee schedule for its services under subd. 1. in conducting the plan reviews. The schedule established under these rules shall set fees for nursing home plan reviews in amounts that are less than the sum of the amounts required on September 30, 1995, for fees under this paragraph and for fees for examination of nursing home plans under s. 101.19 (1) (a), 1993 stats.
(bm) The department shall, by rule, define “intermediate nursing care", “limited nursing care" and “skilled nursing services" for use in regulating minimum hours of service provided to residents of nursing homes.
(bn) The department may, by rule, increase the minimum hours of nursing home care per day that are specified in s. 50.04 (2) (d) 1. to 3.
(c) If a nursing home is certified as a provider of services under s. 49.45 (2) (a) 11. and is named in a verified complaint filed with the department stating that staffing requirements imposed on the nursing home are not being met, the department shall, in order to verify the staffing requirements, randomly inspect payroll records at the nursing home that indicate the actual hours worked by personnel and the number of personnel on duty. The department may not limit its inspection to schedules of work assignments prepared by the nursing home.
(d) The department shall promulgate rules that prescribe all of the following:
1. The method by which community-based residential facilities shall make referrals to resource centers or county departments under s. 50.035 (4n) and the method by which residential care apartment complexes shall make referrals to resource centers under s. 50.034 (5n).
2. The time period for nursing homes to provide information to prospective residents under s. 50.04 (2g) (a) and the time period and method by which nursing homes shall make referrals to resource centers under s. 50.04 (2h) (a).
(3) Considerations in establishing standards and regulations.
(a) The department shall establish several levels and types of community-based residential facilities and nursing homes as provided in par. (b), including a category or categories designed to enable facilities to qualify for federal funds.
(b) In setting standards and regulations, the department shall consider the residents' needs and abilities, the increased cost in relation to proposed benefits to be received, the services to be provided by the facility, the relationship between the physical structure and the objectives of the program conducted in the facility and the primary functions of the facility. Recognizing that size and structure will influence the ability of community-based residential facilities to provide a homelike environment, the legislature encourages the department to develop rules which facilitate in particular the development of: small facilities, small living units in larger facilities, individual residential units, independent living to the extent possible, and integration of residents into the community.
(c) The department shall promulgate rules to establish a procedure for waiver of and variance from standards developed under this section. The department may limit the duration of the waiver or variance.
(d) The department shall promulgate rules to establish a procedure for the admission, evaluation and care of short-term care nursing home residents. These rules shall specify that the nursing home or community-based residential facility shall be required to provide to the department as documentation of this admission, evaluation and care only that amount of information commensurate with the length of stay and the medical needs, if any, of the particular resident.
(4) Reports to the board on aging and long-term care. The department shall submit at least one report quarterly to the board on aging and long-term care regarding enforcement actions, consultation, staff training programs, new procedures and policies, complaint investigation and consumer participation in enforcement under this subchapter and changes that may be needed under this subchapter. The department shall submit at least one report annually to the board on aging and long-term care regarding implementation of rules under sub. (3) (d).
(5) Death investigation. No later than 14 days after the date of a death reported under s. 50.035 (5) (b) or 50.04 (2t) (b), the department shall investigate the death.
History: 1971 c. 125, 161; 1973 c. 122, 323, 327, 333; 1975 c. 119, 260; 1975 c. 413 ss. 5 to 8; 1977 c. 29, 170, 418; 1981 c. 20, 121, 391; 1983 a. 542; 1985 a. 29; 1987 a. 161; 1989 a. 336; 1991 a. 250; 1993 a. 16, 327; 1995 a. 27 ss. 3222 to 3225, 9116 (5); 1995 a. 98; 1997 a. 237; 1999 a. 9, 103; 2005 a. 264, 387; 2007 a. 20; 2009 a. 28; 2011 a. 32.
A municipal ordinance that required registration of nursing homes was in direct conflict with sub. (1) and, therefore, invalid. Volunteers of America v. Village of Brown Deer, 97 Wis. 2d 619, 294 N.W.2d 44 (Ct. App. 1980).
Sub. (2) (am) 2. provides that the rules for appealing the revocation of an adult family home operating license are determined by the Department of Health Services. Pursuant to this authority, the department promulgated a rule that states that an appeal from a license revocation must be received within ten days after the date of the notice. Section 801.15 (1) (b), which provides that when a deadline is less than 11 days, weekends and holidays are excluded from the counting period, only applies to proceedings before a circuit court and has no application to an appeal before an administrative agency. Baker v. Department of Health Services, 2012 WI App 71, 342 Wis. 2d 174, 816 N.W.2d 337, 11-1529.
The state has given the department preemptive authority over community-based residential facilities and nursing homes. 68 Atty. Gen. 45.

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