227.2 Inspection.

1. The director of inspections and appeals shall make, or cause to be made, at least one licensure inspection each year of every county care facility. Either the administrator of the division or the director of the department of inspections and appeals, in cooperation with each other, upon receipt of a complaint or for good cause, may make, or cause to be made, a review of a county care facility or of any other private or county institution where persons with mental illness or an intellectual disability reside. A licensure inspection or a review shall be made by a competent and disinterested person who is acquainted with and interested in the care of persons with mental illness and persons with an intellectual disability. The objective of a licensure inspection or a review shall be an evaluation of the programming and treatment provided by the facility. After each licensure inspection of a county care facility, the person who made the inspection shall consult with the regional administrator for the county in which the facility is located on plans and practices that will improve the care given patients. The person shall also make recommendations to the administrator of the division and the director of public health for coordinating and improving the relationships between the administrators of county care facilities, the administrator of the division, the director of public health, the superintendents of state mental health institutes and resource centers, community mental health centers, mental health and disability services regions, and other cooperating agencies, to cause improved and more satisfactory care of patients. A written report of each licensure inspection of a county care facility under this section shall be filed by the person with the administrator of the division and the director of public health and shall include:

a. The capacity of the institution for the care of residents.

b. The number, sex, ages, and primary diagnoses of the residents.

c. The care of residents, their food, clothing, treatment plan, employment, and opportunity for recreational activities and for productive work intended primarily as therapeutic activity.

d. The number, job classification, sex, duties, and salaries of all employees.

e. The cost to the state or county of maintaining residents in a county care facility.

f. The recommendations given to and received from the regional administrator on methods and practices that will improve the conditions under which the county care facility is operated.

g. Any failure to comply with standards adopted under section 227.4 for care of persons with mental illness and persons with an intellectual disability in county care facilities, which is not covered in information submitted pursuant to paragraphs “a” to “f”, and any other matters which the director of public health, in consultation with the administrator of the division, may require.

2. A copy of the written report prescribed by subsection 1 shall be furnished to the county board of supervisors, to the regional administrator for the county, to the administrator of the county care facility inspected and to its certified volunteer long-term care ombudsman, and to the department on aging.

3. The department of inspections and appeals shall inform the administrator of the division of an action by the department to suspend, revoke, or deny renewal of a license issued by the department of inspections and appeals to a county care facility, and the reasons for the action.

4. In addition to the licensure inspections required or authorized by this section, the administrator of the division shall cause to be made an evaluation of each person cared for in a county care facility at least once each year by one or more qualified mental health, intellectual disability, or medical professionals, whichever is appropriate.

a. It is the responsibility of the state to secure the annual evaluation for each person who is on convalescent leave or who has not been discharged from a state mental health institute. It is the responsibility of the county to secure the annual evaluation for all other persons with mental illness in the county care facility.

b. It is the responsibility of the state to secure the annual evaluation for each person who is on leave and has not been discharged from a state resource center. It is the responsibility of the county to secure the annual evaluation for all other persons with an intellectual disability in the county care facility.

c. It is the responsibility of the county to secure an annual evaluation of each resident of a county care facility to whom neither paragraph “a” nor paragraph “b” is applicable.

5. The evaluations required by subsection 4 shall include an examination of each person which shall reveal the person’s condition of mental and physical health and the likelihood of improvement or discharge and other recommendations concerning the care of those persons as the evaluator deems pertinent. One copy of the evaluation shall be filed with the administrator of the division and one copy shall be filed with the administrator of the county care facility.

[S13, §2727-a59; C24, 27, 31, 35, 39, §3518; C46, 50, 54, 58, 62, 66, 71, 73, 75, 77, 79, 81, S81, §227.2; 81 Acts, ch 78, §20, 32]

96 Acts, ch 1129, §53 – 55; 99 Acts, ch 129, §10; 2000 Acts, ch 1112, §51; 2009 Acts, ch 23, §11; 2012 Acts, ch 1019, §77; 2013 Acts, ch 18, §16; 2015 Acts, ch 69, §49 – 51

Referred to in §227.3, 229.15