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Chapter 144

Section 144.55

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144.55 LICENSES; ISSUANCE, SUSPENSION AND REVOCATION.
    Subdivision 1. Issuance. The state commissioner of health is hereby authorized to issue
licenses to operate hospitals, sanitariums, outpatient surgical centers, or other institutions for
the hospitalization or care of human beings, which are found to comply with the provisions
of sections 144.50 to 144.56 and any reasonable rules promulgated by the commissioner. The
commissioner shall not require an outpatient surgical center licensed as part of a hospital to obtain
a separate outpatient surgical center license. All decisions of the commissioner thereunder may be
reviewed in the district court in the county in which the institution is located or contemplated.
    Subd. 1a. License fee. The annual license fee for outpatient surgical centers is $1,512.
    Subd. 1b. Standards for nursing care. As a condition of licensure, outpatient surgical
centers must provide nursing care consistent with nationally accepted nursing clinical standards
for perioperative nursing, including, but not limited to Association of Operating Room Nurses
and American Nurses Association standards, which are generally accepted in the professional
nursing community.
    Subd. 2. Definitions. For the purposes of this section, the following terms have the meanings
given:
(a) "Outpatient surgical center" or "center" means a freestanding facility organized for the
specific purpose of providing elective outpatient surgery for preexamined, prediagnosed, low-risk
patients. Admissions are limited to procedures that utilize general anesthesia or conscious sedation
and that do not require overnight inpatient care. An outpatient surgical center is not organized to
provide regular emergency medical services and does not include a physician's or dentist's office
or clinic for the practice of medicine, the practice of dentistry, or the delivery of primary care.
(b) "Approved accrediting organization" means the Joint Commission on Accreditation of
Health Care Organizations or the American Osteopathic Association.
    Subd. 3. Standards for licensure. (a) Notwithstanding the provisions of section 144.56, for
the purpose of hospital licensure, the commissioner of health shall use as minimum standards
the hospital certification regulations promulgated pursuant to Title XVIII of the Social Security
Act, United States Code, title 42, section 1395, et seq. The commissioner may use as minimum
standards changes in the federal hospital certification regulations promulgated after May 7, 1981,
if the commissioner finds that such changes are reasonably necessary to protect public health
and safety. The commissioner shall also promulgate in rules additional minimum standards
for new construction.
(b) Each hospital and outpatient surgical center shall establish policies and procedures to
prevent the transmission of human immunodeficiency virus and hepatitis B virus to patients and
within the health care setting. The policies and procedures shall be developed in conformance
with the most recent recommendations issued by the United States Department of Health and
Human Services, Public Health Service, Centers for Disease Control. The commissioner of health
shall evaluate a hospital's compliance with the policies and procedures according to subdivision 4.
    Subd. 4. Routine inspections; presumption. Any hospital surveyed and accredited under
the standards of the hospital accreditation program of an approved accrediting organization that
submits to the commissioner within a reasonable time copies of (a) its currently valid accreditation
certificate and accreditation letter, together with accompanying recommendations and comments
and (b) any further recommendations, progress reports and correspondence directly related to
the accreditation is presumed to comply with application requirements of subdivision 1 and
the standards requirements of subdivision 3 and no further routine inspections or accreditation
information shall be required by the commissioner to determine compliance. Notwithstanding
the provisions of sections 144.54 and 144.653, subdivisions 2 and 4, hospitals shall be inspected
only as provided in this section. The provisions of section 144.653 relating to the assessment and
collection of fines shall not apply to any hospital. The commissioner of health shall annually
conduct, with notice, validation inspections of a selected sample of the number of hospitals
accredited by an approved accrediting organization, not to exceed ten percent of accredited
hospitals, for the purpose of determining compliance with the provisions of subdivision 3. If a
validation survey discloses a failure to comply with subdivision 3, the provisions of section
144.653 relating to correction orders, reinspections, and notices of noncompliance shall apply.
The commissioner shall also conduct any inspection necessary to determine whether hospital
construction, addition, or remodeling projects comply with standards for construction promulgated
in rules pursuant to subdivision 3. Pursuant to section 144.653, the commissioner shall inspect any
hospital that does not have a currently valid hospital accreditation certificate from an approved
accrediting organization. Nothing in this subdivision shall be construed to limit the investigative
powers of the Office of Health Facility Complaints as established in sections 144A.51 to 144A.54.
    Subd. 5. Coordination of inspections. Prior to conducting routine inspections of hospitals
and outpatient surgical centers, a state agency shall notify the commissioner of its intention to
inspect. The commissioner shall then determine whether the inspection is necessary in light of
any previous inspections conducted by the commissioner, any other state agency, or an approved
accrediting organization. The commissioner shall notify the agency of the determination and
may authorize the agency to conduct the inspection. No state agency may routinely inspect any
hospital without the authorization of the commissioner. The commissioner shall coordinate,
insofar as is possible, routine inspections conducted by state agencies, so as to minimize the
number of inspections to which hospitals are subject.
    Subd. 6. Suspension, revocation, and refusal to renew. (a) The commissioner may refuse
to grant or renew, or may suspend or revoke, a license on any of the following grounds:
(1) violation of any of the provisions of sections 144.50 to 144.56 or the rules or standards
issued pursuant thereto, or Minnesota Rules, chapters 4650 and 4675;
(2) permitting, aiding, or abetting the commission of any illegal act in the institution;
(3) conduct or practices detrimental to the welfare of the patient; or
(4) obtaining or attempting to obtain a license by fraud or misrepresentation; or
(5) with respect to hospitals and outpatient surgical centers, if the commissioner determines
that there is a pattern of conduct that one or more physicians who have a "financial or economic
interest," as defined in section 144.6521, subdivision 3, in the hospital or outpatient surgical
center, have not provided the notice and disclosure of the financial or economic interest required
by section 144.6521.
(b) The commissioner shall not renew a license for a boarding care bed in a resident room
with more than four beds.
    Subd. 7. Hearing. Prior to any suspension, revocation or refusal to renew a license, the
licensee shall be entitled to notice and a hearing as provided by sections 14.57 to 14.69. At each
hearing, the commissioner shall have the burden of establishing that a violation described in
subdivision 6 has occurred.
If a license is revoked, suspended, or not renewed, a new application for license may be
considered by the commissioner if the conditions upon which revocation, suspension, or refusal to
renew was based have been corrected and evidence of this fact has been satisfactorily furnished.
A new license may then be granted after proper inspection has been made and all provisions of
sections 144.50 to 144.56 and any rules promulgated thereunder, or Minnesota Rules, chapters
4650 and 4675, have been complied with and recommendation has been made by the inspector as
an agent of the commissioner.
    Subd. 8. Rules. The commissioner may promulgate rules necessary to implement the
provisions of this section, except that the standards described in subdivision 3 shall constitute
the sole minimum quality standards for licensure of hospitals.
    Subd. 9. Expiration of presently valid licenses. All licenses presently in effect shall remain
valid following May 7, 1981 and shall expire on the dates specified on the licenses unless
suspended or revoked.
    Subd. 10. Evaluation report. On November 15, 1983, the commissioner shall provide the
legislature and the governor with a written report evaluating the utilization of the accreditation
program, paying particular attention to its effect upon the public health and safety.
    Subd. 11. State hospitals not affected. Subdivisions 3, 4 and 5 do not apply to state hospitals
and other facilities operated under the direction of the commissioner of human services.
History: 1941 c 549 s 6; 1951 c 304 s 6; 1976 c 173 s 37; 1977 c 305 s 45; 1978 c 674 s 60;
1981 c 95 s 2; 1982 c 424 s 130; 1984 c 654 art 5 s 58; 1985 c 248 s 70; 1986 c 444; 1987 c 384
art 2 s 1; 1987 c 403 art 4 s 1; 1992 c 559 art 1 s 2; 2004 c 198 s 1-8; 2005 c 85 s 2-4

Official Publication of the State of Minnesota
Revisor of Statutes