Rhode Island General Laws Title 23. Health and Safety § 23-16-4. Powers of the director

(1) To provide for an inventory of existing facilities or a particular category or categories of existing facilities, and to survey the need for additional facilities;

(2) To develop and administer a construction program or programs which, in conjunction with existing facilities, will afford adequate facilities to serve the people of the state;

(3) To provide methods of administration, including personnel standards, on a merit basis, and to require reports, make investigations, and prescribe regulations;

(4) To provide for priority of projects or facilities;

(5) To provide to applicants an opportunity for a fair hearing before the state department of health;

(6) To procure in the director's discretion the temporary or intermittent services of experts or consultants or organizations of experts or consultants by contract, when the services are to be performed on a part-time or fee-for-service basis and do not involve the performance of administrative duties; and

(7) To prescribe and require compliance with standards of maintenance and operation applicable to those facilities that are reasonably necessary to protect the public health, welfare, and safety.