2013 North Dakota Century Code Title 50 Public Welfare Chapter 50-19 Maternity Homes
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CHAPTER 50-19
MATERNITY HOMES
50-19-01. Definitions.
In this chapter, unless the context or subject matter otherwise requires:
1. "Department" means the department of human services.
2. "Maternity home" means any home or other premises, operating especially to provide
social services, maternity care, and child care to pregnant or recently delivered
mothers and their infants, which receives more than one woman for any length of time
for shelter or care during pregnancy or within one hundred twenty days after delivery. It
does not include any home or other premises owned or operated by state or federal
governments.
50-19-02. License required.
Any person, partnership, voluntary association, corporation, or limited liability company
which operates a maternity home shall secure from the department a license at least once every
two years as required in this chapter.
50-19-03. Requirements for license.
A license for the operation of a maternity home must be issued by the department to a
reputable and responsible person, partnership, voluntary association, corporation, or limited
liability company, upon showing that:
1. The premises to be used are in fit sanitary condition and properly equipped to provide
good care and treatment;
2. The persons in active charge of the home and their assistants are qualified by training
and experience to carry on efficiently the duties required of them;
3. The home is to be conducted for the public good and in accordance with sound social
policy; and
4. The health and well-being of the infants and of the parties who receive services will be
properly safeguarded.
50-19-03.1. Conviction not bar to licensure - Exceptions.
Conviction of an offense does not disqualify a person from licensure under this chapter
unless the department determines that the offense has a direct bearing upon a person's ability
to serve the public as the owner or operator of a maternity home, or that, following conviction of
any offense, the person is not sufficiently rehabilitated under section 12.1-33-02.1.
50-19-04. Inspection and report by state department of health and state fire marshal.
The department shall give notice to the state department of health and state fire marshal of
each application for a license to operate a maternity home. Upon receipt of the notice, the state
department of health and the state fire marshal shall inspect the facilities and premises of the
applicant to determine compliance with health and fire safety standards and shall report their
findings to the department.
50-19-05. Contents of license.
The license to operate a maternity home issued under the provisions of this chapter must
set forth:
1. The name of the licensee.
2. The premises to which the license is applicable.
3. The number of patients who may be received in such premises at any one time.
4. The date of expiration of the license.
50-19-06. Regulation by department.
The department may prescribe forms for the registration and record of any individual who
receives services in maternity homes and may adopt reasonable rules for the conduct of such
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homes as are necessary to carry out the purposes of this chapter. The department shall require
reports from the licensee which must include a statement of plans made for the mother and her
child.
50-19-07. Inspection of maternity home and the records thereof.
The department and its authorized agents may inspect any maternity home licensed under
this chapter at any time. The department and its agents shall have free access to every part of
such home and to the records thereof, and they may see and interview any individual who
receives services from the maternity home.
50-19-08. Every birth attended by qualified physician.
Repealed by S.L. 2007, ch. 420, § 14.
50-19-09. Reporting births.
Repealed by S.L. 2007, ch. 420, § 14.
50-19-10. Records of maternity home confidential.
Except as otherwise authorized by law, no agent of the state department of health, the state
fire marshal, or the department, or the licensee, under this chapter, may disclose the contents of
the records of a maternity home nor of the reports received from them, except:
1. In a judicial or administrative proceeding in response to an order of a court or
administrative tribunal; or
2. For a law enforcement purpose to a law enforcement official or a health oversight
agency for oversight activities authorized by law.
50-19-11. Offer or advertise to place a child for adoption prohibited.
No maternity home licensed under this chapter may in any way offer to place a child, or
advertise that it will give children for adoption, or hold itself out, directly or indirectly, as being
able to place children for adoption, but may inform a mother of licensed child-placing agencies.
50-19-12. Revocation of license.
The department may revoke a license of any maternity home upon a proper showing of any
of the following:
1. Any of the conditions set forth in section 50-19-03 as requirements for the issuance of
the license no longer exists.
2. The license was issued upon fraudulent or untrue representations.
3. The owner or operator has violated any of the rules of the department.
4. The owner or operator of the maternity home has been guilty of an offense determined
by the department to have a direct bearing upon a person's ability to serve the public
as an owner or operator, or the department determines, following the owner's or
operator's conviction of any other offense, that the owner or operator is not sufficiently
rehabilitated under section 12.1-33-02.1.
50-19-13. Hearing on denial or revocation of license.
Before any application for a license to conduct a maternity home is denied or before the
revocation of any such license by the department, written charges as to the reasons therefor
must be served upon the applicant or licensee, who has the right to a hearing before the
department, if a hearing is requested within ten days after service of the written charges.
50-19-14. Cooperation of interested persons and agencies.
The licensee of a maternity home, the state department of health and its agents, the state
fire marshal and the state fire marshal's designees, and the department and its agents shall
cooperate in all measures and services for improving and safeguarding the health and social
well-being of mothers and their infants who receive services in a maternity home.
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50-19-15. Penalty.
Every person who violates any of the provisions of this chapter is guilty of a class B
misdemeanor.
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