On August 13, 2013, all nursing facilities participating in the Medicare and Medicaid programs were required to be in compliance with the automatic sprinkler systems’ regulation that was published in a final rule on August 13, 2008. The regulation provided a five-year phase-in program to allow long-term care facilities (“Facilities”) to achieve compliance by the August 13, 2013 deadline.
There are no provisions in the regulation for extensions to the due date. A proposed rule, however, published on February 7, 2013 by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (“CMS”), does allow CMS to grant “time-limited extensions” to any Facility that is undergoing major renovations or building a replacement facility. Even under these circumstances, a Facility will still be cited for a life-safety code (“LSC”) deficiency during its recertification survey, but the conditions resulting in the citation will be considered in the review of the Facility’s Plan of Correction. All other Facilities not in compliance with the deadline at the time of their next recertification survey should expect to be cited for the LSC deficiency.
The Memorandum can be accessed here.
If you have questions or concerns regarding the foregoing or would like additional information, please contact Todd Selby at tselby@wp.hallrender.com or 317.977.1440, Brian Jent at bjent@wp.hallrender.com or 317.977.1402, David Bufford at dbufford@wp.hallrender.com or 502.568.9368 or your regular Hall Render attorney.
