Section 22 VAC 40-72-70 Risk Management

• This provision should be revised.  As written, the provision invites litigation, creates liability for the assisted living facility and will be difficult for the staff to implement. 

 Section 22 VAC 40-72-80 Quality and Improvement

• This provision should be revised to eliminate the list of examples regarding self-assessment and quality improvement.  This section also creates duplicative and unnecessary documentation and may create a significant incidence of unwanted litigation.

 Section 22 VAC 40-72-100 Incident and Occurrence Reports

• The proposed changes would be burdensome to the facilities.  They are overreaching.  This section would require a facility to report a resident that was considered to be missing and found unharmed within the facility in a short period of time. Additionally, reporting even where no resident’s health, safety, or welfare is threatened is inefficient, unnecessary, and overly burdensome.

 Section 22 VAC 40-72-110 Provision of Data

• Recommend that this section be deleted totally due to reporting requirements being too vague, too costly, and overly burdensome.  Additionally, they do not have any apparent benefit.

 Section 22 VAC 40-72-300 First Aid and CPR Certification

• Request that Sections F & G be deleted, as these sections create overly burdensome requirements regarding personnel certified in CPR.  Further, it is unclear if a CPR employee must remain at all off-site events.  Requiring this would severely impair the facilities’ ability to offer off-site events and would greatly limit residents’ activity.

 Section 22 VAC 40-72-320 Staffing

• Section B should be stricken in its entirety as it is overly broad and burdensome, is impractical, and is beyond the scope and intent of the law. 

  Section 22 VAC 40-72-360 Mental Health Assessment

• This section created a myriad of challenges.  Many of the behaviors listed are common to all assisted living residents.  This regulation could require all ALF residents to receive a mental health assessment. 

 Section 22 VAC 40-72-810 Resident Councils 

• Section E., which permits the resident council to work with the administration to make recommendations regarding policies, procedures and other functions should be removed.

 Section VAC 40-72-950 Evacuation Drills

• This section should be reevaluated.  Consideration should be given to the impact of evacuating residents at all times of the day and seasons of the year, as well as the increased risk of injury to residents during drills through stairways of multi-level buildings.  The term Evacuation should revert to the term Fire Drill.  The process should comply with the facility’s Fire and Evacuation plan as approved by the Fire Marshal.  Also recommend that an exception be added saying buildings with an I-2 certification do not need to fully evacuate in accordance with the Fire Safety Code.