A new law in Arizona is meant to strengthen background checks for those applying for assisted living facility certificates or nursing care administrator licenses through the state’s Board of Nursing Care Institution Administrators and Assisted Living Facility Managers.
“Our nursing homes and assisted living facilities deserve accountability and leadership from their supervisors,” Gov. Doug Ducey said in a statement Friday after signing the bill. “SB 1242 accomplishes this. Our seniors — grandmothers, grandfathers and family members — deserve nothing less to ensure their safety, happiness and health,” he added.
In addition to bolstering background checks, the bill prohibits people with any felony convictions involving violence or financial fraud from obtaining a certificate or license. The NCIA Board will work with the Arizona Department of Health Services to establish an expedited process for identifying and referring complaints between the agencies.
David Voepel, executive director of the Arizona Health Care Association, told McKnight’s Senior Living that his organization and other provider groups in the state worked on the bill and support the changes it will institute.
“In fact, two of our members, Nigel Santiago, Cascadia Healthcare, and Kris Woolley, Avista Senior Care, were on the study committee,” he said. “Allowing a streamlined process and continuing the board for several more years are necessary components of licensure of SNF administrators and assisted living managers.”
Arizona ALFA President and CEO Karen Barno also told McKnight’s Senior Living that her organization supports the new law.
Under the law:
- Each applicant for an initial assisted living facility certificate or nursing care administrator license must submit a full set of fingerprints to the NCIA for a state and federal criminal history records check by Jan. 1.
- The Department of Public Safety will be permitted to exchange fingerprint data with the FBI.
- The NCIA will be forbidden from issuing a certificate or license to an applicant who has been convicted of any felony involving violence or financial fraud.
- The DHS, in collaboration with the NCIA, is required to establish and implement an expedited process for identifying and referring complaints relating to certificate holders and licensees under the NCIA’s jurisdiction by Sept. 1.
- The DHS must provide a report to the chairpersons of the Health and Human Services Committees of the state Senate and House of Representatives outlining the expedited process, including time frames from receipt of a complaint to referral to the NCIA.
Another bill signed into law by the governor, SB 1202, continues the NCIA for two years.
The NCIA Board, established in 1975, adopts rules for licensing and certifying applicants, conducting examinations to determine applicant qualification and adopting fees. It also conducts investigations or administrative hearings in response to complaints and prescribes standards for assisted living facility training programs.
Voepel said that the Arizona Health Care Association and other provider groups in the state also worked on SB 1202 and that his organization “is a proponent of keeping the NCIA board independent.”
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