Virginia Law

As used in this chapter, the following words and terms shall have the following meanings unless the context clearly indicates otherwise:

"Board" means the State Board of Health.

"Chief executive officer" means a job descriptive term used to identify the individual appointed by the governing body to act in its behalf in the overall management of the hospital. Job titles may include administrator, superintendent, director, executive director, president, vice-president, and executive vice-president.

"Commissioner" means the State Health Commissioner.

"Consultant" means one who provides services or advice upon request.

"Department" means an organized section of the hospital.

"Designated support person" means a person who is knowledgeable about the needs of a person with a disability and who is designated, orally or in writing, by the individual with a disability, the individual's guardian, or the individual's care provider to provide support and assistance, including physical assistance, emotional support, assistance with communication or decision-making, or any other assistance necessary as a result of the person's disability, to the person with a disability at any time during which health care services are provided.

"Direction" means authoritative policy or procedural guidance for the accomplishment of a function or activity.

"Facilities" means building(s), equipment, and supplies necessary for implementation of services by personnel.

"Full-time" means a 37-1/2 to 40 hour work week.

"General hospital" means institutions as defined by § 32.1-123 of the Code of Virginia with an organized medical staff; with permanent facilities that include inpatient beds; and with medical services, including physician services, dentist services and continuous nursing services, to provide diagnosis and treatment for patients who have a variety of medical and dental conditions that may require various types of care, such as medical, surgical, and maternity.

"Home health care department/service/program" means a formally structured organizational unit of the hospital that is designed to provide health services to patients in their place of residence and meets Part II (12VAC5-381-150 et seq.) of the regulations adopted by the board for the licensure of home care organizations in Virginia.

"Medical" means pertaining to or dealing with the healing art and the science of medicine.

"Nursing care unit" means an organized jurisdiction of nursing service in which nursing services are provided on a continuous basis.

"Nursing home" means an institution or any identifiable component of any institution as defined by § 32.1-123 of the Code of Virginia with permanent facilities that include inpatient beds and whose primary function is the provision, on a continuing basis, of nursing and health related services for the treatment of patients who may require various types of long term care, such as skilled care and intermediate care.

"Nursing services" means patient care services pertaining to the curative, palliative, restorative, or preventive aspects of nursing that are prepared or supervised by a registered nurse.

"Office of Licensure and Certification" or "OLC" means the Office of Licensure and Certification of the Virginia Department of Health.

"Organized" means administratively and functionally structured.

"Organized medical staff" means a formal organization of physicians and dentists with the delegated responsibility and authority to maintain proper standards of medical care and to plan for continued betterment of that care.

"Outpatient hospital" means institutions as defined by § 32.1-123 of the Code of Virginia that primarily provide facilities for the performance of surgical procedures on outpatients. Such patients may require treatment in a medical environment exceeding the normal capability found in a physician's office, but do not require inpatient hospitalization.

"Ownership/person" means any individual, partnership, association, trust, corporation, municipality, county, governmental agency, or any other legal or commercial entity that owns or controls the physical facilities and/or manages or operates a hospital.

"Rural hospital" means any general hospital in a county classified by the federal Office of Management and Budget (OMB) as rural, any hospital designated as a critical access hospital, any general hospital that is eligible to receive funds under the federal Small Rural Hospital Improvement Grant Program, or any general hospital that notifies the commissioner of its desire to retain its rural status when that hospital is in a county reclassified by the OMB as a metropolitan statistical area as of June 6, 2003.

"Service" means a functional division of the hospital. Also used to indicate the delivery of care.

"Special hospital" means institutions as defined by § 32.1-123 of the Code of Virginia that provide care for a specialized group of patients or limit admissions to provide diagnosis and treatment for patients who have specific conditions (e.g., tuberculosis, orthopedic, pediatric, maternity).

"Special care unit" means an appropriately equipped area of the hospital where there is a concentration of physicians, nurses, and others who have special skills and experience to provide optimal medical care for patients assigned to the unit.

"Staff privileges" means authority to render medical care in the granting institution within well-defined limits, based on the individual's professional license and the individual's experience, competence, ability, and judgment.

"Unit" means a functional division or facility of the hospital.