Connecticut General Statutes Title 19A. Public Health and Well-Being § 19a-495. Regulations re licensed institutions. Implementation of policies and procedures re medications

(a) The Department of Public Health shall, after consultation with the appropriate public and voluntary hospital planning agencies, establish classifications of institutions. The department shall, in the Public Health Code, adopt, amend, promulgate and enforce such regulations based upon reasonable standards of health, safety and comfort of patients and demonstrable need for such institutions, with respect to each classification of institutions to be licensed under sections 19a-490 to 19a-503, inclusive, including their special facilities, as will further the accomplishment of the purposes of said sections in promoting safe, humane and adequate care and treatment of individuals in institutions. The department shall adopt such regulations, in accordance with chapter 54,  1 concerning home health care agencies and home health aide agencies.

(b) The Department of Public Health, with the advice of the Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services, shall include in the regulations adopted pursuant to subsection (a) of this section, additional standards for community residences, as defined in section 19a-507a, which shall include, but not be limited to, standards for: (1) Safety, maintenance and administration; (2) protection of human rights; (3) staffing requirements; (4) administration of medication; (5) program goals and objectives; (6) services to be offered; and (7) population to be served.

(c) The commissioner may waive any provisions of the regulations affecting an institution or a clinical laboratory, licensed pursuant to section 19a-30, if the commissioner determines that such waiver would not endanger the health, safety or welfare of any patient or resident. The commissioner may impose conditions, upon granting the waiver, that assure the health, safety and welfare of patients or residents, and may revoke the waiver upon a finding that the health, safety or welfare of any patient or resident has been jeopardized. The commissioner shall not grant a waiver that would result in a violation of the Fire Safety Code  2 or State Building Code. 3 The commissioner may adopt regulations, in accordance with chapter 54, establishing procedures for an application for a waiver pursuant to this subsection.

(d) The Commissioner of Public Health, in consultation with the Commissioner of Mental Health and Addiction Services, may implement policies and procedures, in compliance with federal law, permitting licensed health care providers with prescriptive authority to prescribe medications to treat persons dependent on opiates in freestanding substance abuse treatment facilities, licensed under section 19a-490, while in the process of adopting such policies and procedures in regulation form, provided the commissioner prints notice of the intent to adopt regulations in the Connecticut Law Journal not later than thirty days after the date of implementation of such policies and procedures. Policies and procedures implemented pursuant to this subsection shall be valid until the time final regulations are adopted.