§ 42-66.7-3. Definitions.
As used in this chapter:
(1) An "act� of any facility or government agency includes any failure or refusal to act
by any facility or government agency.
(2) "Administrator� means any person who is charged with the general administration or
supervision of a facility whether or not that person has an ownership interest and
whether or not that person's functions and duties are shared with one or more other
persons.
(3) "Director� means the director of the office of healthy aging.
(4) "Elderly� means any person sixty (60) years of age or older who is a resident of any
facility.
(5) "Facility� means any facility or institution, home care provider, or home nursing
care provider, whether public or private, offering health or health-related services
for the institutionalized elderly, and which is subject to regulation, visitation,
inspection, or supervision by any government agency. "Facilities� include, but are
not limited to, nursing homes, intermediate care facilities, extended care facilities,
convalescent homes, rehabilitation centers, home care agencies, homes for the aged,
veterans' homes, boarding homes, and adult supportive care, residential care and assisted
living residences.
(6) "Government agency� means any department, division, office, bureau, board, commission,
authority, nonprofit community organization, or any other agency or instrumentality
created by any municipality or by the state, or to which the state is a party, that
is responsible for the regulation, inspection, visitation, or supervision of facilities
or that provides services to residents of facilities.
(7) "Health oversight agency� means, for the purposes of this chapter, the office of healthy
aging or the person or entity designated as the state's long-term care ombudsperson
by the director of the office of healthy aging, including the employees or agents
of such person or entity, when they are acting to fulfill the duties and responsibilities
of the state's long-term care ombudsperson program in which health information is
necessary to oversee the health system and in accordance with the U.S. Health Insurance
Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) of 1996.
(8) "Interfere� means willing and continuous conduct that prevents the ombudsperson from
performing the ombudsperson's official duties.
(9) "Official duties� means work pursuant to the long-term care ombudsperson program authorized
by the federal Older Americans Act or the long-term care ombudsperson program authorized
by state law and carried out under the auspices and general direction of the state
long-term care ombudsperson.
(10) "Ombudsperson� means the person or persons designated by the director. That person
or persons shall have expertise and experience in the fields of social work, long-term
care, and advocacy, and shall be qualified and experienced in communicating with the
elderly.
(11) "Person� means any individual, trust, or estate, partnership, limited liability corporation,
corporation (including associations, joint stock companies, and insurance companies),
state, or political subdivision or instrumentality of a state.
(12) "Resident� means any person age sixty (60) years of age or older who is receiving
treatment, care, or housing in any facility in all of its aspects including, but not
limited to, admission, retention, confinement, period of residence, transfer, discharge,
and in any instances directly related to that status. Residents include patients and
clients. Residents shall also include disabled persons under sixty (60) years of age
residing in nursing homes, or clients of residential and assisted living facilities
and home care providers/home nursing care providers and long-term care units at the
Eleanor Slater Hospital, including the Zambarano facility.