§ 6304. Designation; geographic service areas

(a) The Commissioner shall specify by rule standards and procedures for home health agency designation, redesignation, and designation revocation. The designation shall provide each designated agency a franchise to provide home health services within one or more geographic service areas within which it shall have the obligation and responsibility of providing home health services for four years, except as provided in subsection (d) of this section. No home health agency shall render home health services to patients residing in a designated service area without being designated by the Commissioner to serve patients in that service area.

(b) Initial designations shall reflect the geographic service areas of existing home health agencies and any agencies contained in a certificate of need granted under 18 V.S.A. chapter 221 prior to or following the effective date of this section, provided the certificate of need, if not yet approved, was pending on the effective date. The initial geographic service areas shall include:

(1) Addison County Home Health & Hospice, Inc.: the cities and towns of Addison County, with the exception of Hancock and Granville.

(2) VNA & Hospice of Southwestern Vermont Health Care, Inc.: the towns of Pownal, Bennington, Woodford, Shaftsbury, and Glastenbury.

(3) Franklin County Home Health Agency, Inc.: the cities and towns of Franklin County.

(4) VNA of Chittenden and Grand Isle Counties, Inc.: The cities and towns of Chittenden and Grand Isle counties.

(5) Lamoille Home Health Agency, Inc. d/b/a Lamoille Home Health & Hospice: the cities and towns of Lamoille County.

(6) Central Vermont Home Health & Hospice, Inc.: the cities and towns of Washington County and the towns of Orange, Williamstown, and Washington.

(7) Dorset Nursing Association, Inc.: the towns of Dorset, Rupert, and Pawlet.

(8) Rutland Area VNA & Hospice, Inc.: the cities and towns of Rutland County, with the exception of Pawlet.

(9) Manchester Health Services, Inc.: the towns of Manchester, Arlington, Sunderland, and Sandgate.

(10) Northern Counties Health Care, Inc., d/b/a Caledonia Home Health Care & Hospice: the cities and towns of Caledonia County and the towns of Concord, Lunenburg, Victory, Granby, Guildhall, Maidstone, East Haven, and Greensboro.

(11) Orleans Essex VNA & Hospice, Inc.: the cities and towns of Orleans County with the exception of Greensboro and the towns, gores, and grants of Norton, Canaan, Averill, Lewis, Lemington, Bloomfield, Brunswick, Brighton, Ferdinand, Avery's Gore, Warren's Gore, and Warner's Grant.

(12) VNA & Hospice of Vermont and New Hampshire, Inc.: the cities and towns of Windsor County, Windham County, Orange County (with the exception of the towns of Orange, Washington, and Williamstown) and the towns of Hancock, Granville, Searsburg, Readsboro, Stamford, Landgrove, Winhall, and Peru.

(c) Designations for new home health agencies shall be established pursuant to certificates of need approved by the Green Mountain Care Board. Thereafter, designations shall be subject to the provisions of this subchapter.

(d) The initial designations made under subsection (b) of this section shall expire according to staggered terms prescribed by the Commissioner.

(e) Agencies seeking redesignation to continue providing home health services shall file an application for redesignation in a form and manner prescribed by the Commissioner.

(f) In reviewing applications from agencies seeking to expand or reduce the offering of home health services, the Commissioner shall determine whether the application is consistent with the Health Resource Allocation Plan established under 18 V.S.A. § 9405. In addition, the Commissioner shall use the data collected under subsection 6305(b) of this title when reviewing any applications for additional home health agencies to operate in any area of the State.

(g) The Commissioner shall adopt by rule standards and procedures for designation revocation. In particular, an agency's designation shall be revoked if:

(1) the local community services plan is inadequate to meet the needs of the area served by the home health agency;

(2) the agency, for reasons other than the lack of resources, has failed or refused to implement an otherwise adequate local community services plan; or

(3) the agency has failed to meet the performance standards adopted under this subchapter, has been given written notice of the performance deficiency, and has failed to remediate the deficiency within the time specified in the notice.

(h) Nothing in this subchapter shall be construed to prohibit collaboration among two or more such home health agencies in delivering needed services to patients pursuant to an affiliation, sharing, or other agreement under appropriate circumstances approved by the Commissioner under section 6306 of this title. (Added 2005, No. 57, § 8, eff. June 13, 2005; amended 2011, No. 78 (Adj. Sess.), § 2, eff. April 2, 2012; 2013, No. 79, § 49c.)