§ 2803-G — Board of visitors in county owned residential health care facility

§ 2803-g. Board of visitors in county owned residential health care\nfacility. 1. Each public residential health care facility owned by a\ncounty may have a board of visitors consisting of at least seven\nmembers. Members shall be appointed by the county executive of the\ncounty in which the facility is located where the county charter or, in\nthe absence of such, county law provides that members of county boards,\ncommissions, authorities or agencies are to be appointed by such an\nofficer. Such appointments shall be made with the approval of the local\nlegislative body of that county. In those counties without a county\nexecutive, appointments shall be made by the legislative body of the\ncounty. A visitor may be removed by the county legislative body for\ncause after notice and an opportunity for hearing on the charges.\n 2. Unless provided otherwise by local law, each board shall elect\nannually one member to serve as president of the board and one member to\nserve as secretary.\n 3. Visitors shall not receive compensation but may be reimbursed for\ntheir actual expenses in connection with their service as visitors by\nthe facility they serve.\n 4. The board of visitors shall hold no less than six regular meetings\nannually, but a greater number of regular meetings may be scheduled by\nthe board. The conditions under which special meetings may be called\nshall be established by local law or in by-laws of the board. The board\nmay require the head administrator of the facility to submit a report at\neach meeting. The board shall keep a record of its proceedings and\nactivities. A member of a board of visitors who has failed to attend\nthree consecutive meetings shall be considered to have vacated his\noffice unless the board has adopted rules to the contrary.\n 5. Upon the request of the head administrator of the facility or upon\nthe board's initiative, the board shall consult, advise and work with\nthe director with respect to community relations, conditions at the\nfacility, preliminary plans for construction and alterations and\nprograms and activities of the facility.\n 6. The board or any member of the board may visit and inspect the\nfacility at any time without prior notice and may report on conditions\nto the local legislative body or the county executive and the\ncommissioner of the New York state department of health. In addition,\nthe board shall insure that a member or a committee of members shall\ninspect the facility once every three months without prior notice. A\nmember of a board of visitors who has failed to visit and inspect the\nfacility at least twice a year shall be considered to have vacated his\noffice unless otherwise ordered by the board.\n 7. The board shall have the power to investigate all charges against\nthe administrator of the facility, all cases of alleged patient abuse or\nmistreatment, and any other complaint filed against the facility. The\nboard shall receive from the facility copies of all accident reports and\nany reports of abuse or neglect involving patients of the facility. The\nboard or any member of the board shall have the right to examine any\nbooks or papers of the facility at anytime, except that access to\npatient medical records shall be with the written consent of the patient\nor his legal representative. Unless provided otherwise by local law, the\nboard shall have the power, in accordance with the civil practice law\nand rules, to require the production of any books or papers deemed\nrelevant to the investigation. The board or a member may include in the\nreport of their investigation or separately at any time, any matter\npertaining to the management and affairs of the facility and may make\nrecommendations to the county executive, or in the absence of such, the\ncounty legislative body and to the commissioner.\n 8. Once each year, the board shall make an independent assessment of\nconditions at the facility and shall submit a report on the assessment\nand recommendations to the commissioner and to the county executive, or\nin the absence of such, the county legislative body.\n 9. The county executive or the local legislative body shall notify the\nboard of visitors of a residential health care facility of the proposed\nappointment of a head administrator to such facility with a request that\nthe board report an expression of its opinion of the appointment and, if\nit objects thereto, the reasons for such an objection.\n 10. The board may establish by-laws which shall be available for\npublic inspection at the facility and the office of the county attorney.\n 11. Members of the board of visitors shall be considered officers of\nthe county by which they are compensated for purposes of section four\nhundred nine of the county law. The county legislative body shall\nestablish a code of ethics for the members of such board, including but\nnot limited to provisions on conflict of interest and course of conduct.\n