(1) Applicants desiring to operate a hospice care center are subject to the following:

(a) The application may only be made by a licensed hospice agency. The agency shall list which of the following service categories will be provided:

(i) General inpatient care;

(ii) Continuous home care;

(iii) Routine home care; or

(iv) Inpatient respite care;

(b) A certificate of need is required under chapter 70.38 RCW;

(c) A hospice agency may operate more than one hospice care center in its service area;

(d) For hospice agencies that operate a hospice care center, no more than forty-nine percent of patient care days, in the aggregate on a biennial basis, may be provided in the hospice care center;

(e) The maximum number of beds in a hospice care center is twenty;

(f) The maximum number of individuals per room is one, unless the individual requests a roommate;

(g) A hospice care center may either be owned or leased by a hospice agency. If the agency leases space, all delivery of interdisciplinary services, to include staffing and management, shall be done by the hospice agency; and

(h) A hospice care center may either be freestanding or a separate portion of another building.

(2) The department is authorized to develop rules to implement this section. The rules shall be specific to each hospice care center service category provided. The rules shall at least specifically address the following:

(a) Adequate space for family members to visit, meet, cook, share meals, and stay overnight with patients or clients;

(b) A separate external entrance, clearly identifiable to the public when part of an existing structure;

(c) Construction, maintenance, and operation of a hospice care center;

(d) Means to inform the public which hospice care center service categories are provided; and

(e) A registered nurse present twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week for hospice care centers delivering general inpatient services.

(3) Hospice agencies which as of January 1, 2000, operate the functional equivalent of a hospice care center through licensure as a hospital, under chapter 70.41 RCW, shall be exempt from the certificate of need requirement for hospice care centers if they apply for and receive a license as an in-home services agency to operate a hospice home care center by July 1, 2002.

Effective date—2000 c 175: See note following RCW 70.127.010.