2007 Minnesota Statutes

144.50 HOSPITALS, LICENSES; DEFINITIONS.
    Subdivision 1. License required. (a) No person, partnership, association, or corporation, nor
any state, county, or local governmental units, nor any division, department, board, or agency
thereof, shall establish, operate, conduct, or maintain in the state any hospital, sanitarium or
other institution for the hospitalization or care of human beings without first obtaining a license
therefor in the manner provided in sections 144.50 to 144.56. No person or entity shall advertise a
facility providing services required to be licensed under sections 144.50 to 144.56 without first
obtaining a license.
(b) A violation of this subdivision is a misdemeanor punishable by a fine of not more than
$300. The commissioner may seek an injunction in the district court against the continuing
operation of the unlicensed institution. Proceedings for securing an injunction may be brought
by the attorney general or by the appropriate county attorney.
(c) The sanctions in this subdivision do not restrict other available sanctions.
    Subd. 2. Hospital, sanitarium, other institution; definition. Hospital, sanitarium or other
institution for the hospitalization or care of human beings, within the meaning of sections 144.50
to 144.56 shall mean any institution, place, building, or agency, in which any accommodation is
maintained, furnished, or offered for five or more persons for: the hospitalization of the sick or
injured; the provision of care in a swing bed authorized under section 144.562; elective outpatient
surgery for preexamined, prediagnosed low risk patients; emergency medical services offered
24 hours a day, seven days a week, in an ambulatory or outpatient setting in a facility not a part
of a licensed hospital; or the institutional care of human beings. Nothing in sections 144.50 to
144.56 shall apply to a clinic, a physician's office or to hotels or other similar places that furnish
only board and room, or either, to their guests.
    Subd. 3. Hospitalization. "Hospitalization" means the reception and care of persons for a
continuous period longer than 24 hours, for the purpose of diagnosis or treatment bearing on
the physical or mental health of such persons.
    Subd. 4.[Repealed, 1980 c 357 s 22]
    Subd. 5. Separate licensing for healing; medicine. Nothing in sections 144.50 to 144.56
shall authorize any person, partnership, association, or corporation, nor any state, county, or local
governmental units, nor any division, department, board, or agency thereof, to engage, in any
manner, in the practice of healing, or the practice of medicine, as defined by law.
    Subd. 6. Supervised living facility licenses. (a) The commissioner may license as a
supervised living facility a facility seeking medical assistance certification as an intermediate
care facility for persons with developmental disability for four or more persons as authorized
under section 252.291.
(b) Class B supervised living facilities shall be classified as follows for purposes of the
State Building Code:
(1) Class B supervised living facilities for six or less persons must meet Group R, Division 3,
occupancy requirements; and
(2) Class B supervised living facilities for seven to 16 persons must meet Group R, Division
1, occupancy requirements.
(c) Class B facilities classified under paragraph (b), clauses (1) and (2), must meet the fire
protection provisions of chapter 21 of the 1985 Life Safety Code, NFPA 101, for facilities housing
persons with impractical evacuation capabilities, except that Class B facilities licensed prior to
July 1, 1990, need only continue to meet institutional fire safety provisions. Class B supervised
living facilities shall provide the necessary physical plant accommodations to meet the needs and
functional disabilities of the residents. For Class B supervised living facilities licensed after July
1, 1990, and housing nonambulatory or nonmobile persons, the corridor access to bedrooms,
common spaces, and other resident use spaces must be at least five feet in clear width, except that
a waiver may be requested in accordance with Minnesota Rules, part 4665.0600.
(d) The commissioner may license as a Class A supervised living facility a residential
program for chemically dependent individuals that allows children to reside with the parent
receiving treatment in the facility. The licensee of the program shall be responsible for the health,
safety, and welfare of the children residing in the facility. The facility in which the program is
located must be provided with a sprinkler system approved by the state fire marshal. The licensee
shall also provide additional space and physical plant accommodations appropriate for the number
and age of children residing in the facility. For purposes of license capacity, each child residing in
the facility shall be considered to be a resident.
    Subd. 7. Residents with aids or hepatitis. Boarding care homes and supervised living
facilities licensed by the commissioner of health must accept as a resident a person who is infected
with the human immunodeficiency virus or the hepatitis B virus unless the facility cannot meet
the needs of the person under Minnesota Rules, part 4665.0200, subpart 5, or 4655.1500, subpart
2, or the person is otherwise not eligible for admission to the facility under state laws or rules.
History: 1941 c 549 s 1; 1943 c 649 s 1; 1951 c 304 s 1; 1969 c 358 s 1; 1976 c 173 s 34;
1977 c 218 s 1; 1981 c 95 s 1; 1Sp1985 c 3 s 2; 1987 c 209 s 20,21; 1988 c 689 art 2 s 32; 1989 c
282 art 2 s 8; art 3 s 4; 1990 c 568 art 3 s 3; 1991 c 286 s 3; 1992 c 513 art 6 s 4; 2005 c 56 s 1