2005 Vermont Code - § 7102. — Definitions

§ 7102. Definitions

The following words and phrases, as used in this chapter, have the following meanings unless otherwise provided:

(1) "Residential care home" means a place, however named, excluding a licensed foster home, which provides, for profit or otherwise, room, board and personal care to three or more residents unrelated to the home operator. Residential care homes shall be divided into two groups, depending upon the level of care they provide, as follows:

(A) Level III, which provides personal care, defined as assistance with meals, dressing, movement, bathing, grooming, or other personal needs, or general supervision of physical or mental well-being, including nursing overview and medication management as defined by the licensing agency by rule, but not full-time nursing care; and

(B) Level IV, which provides personal care, as described in subdivision (A), or general supervision of the physical or mental well-being of residents, including medication management as defined by the licensing agency by rule, but not other nursing care;

(2) "Therapeutic community residence" means a place, however named, excluding a hospital as defined by statute or the Vermont state hospital, which provides, for profit or otherwise, short-term individualized treatment to three or more residents with major life adjustment problems, such as alcoholism, drug abuse, mental illness or delinquency;

(3) "Licensing agency" means the agency of human services, or the department or division within the agency as the secretary of human services may designate;

(4) "Maternity home" means a place, other than a hospital as defined by statute, which maintains and operates facilities, for profit or otherwise, accommodating a person or persons, unrelated to the home operator, who require maternity care;

(5) "Maternity care" means a high level of nursing care, prescribed by the physician, and medical care required by obstetrical patients prior to delivery, during delivery, and for such period following delivery as the physician may indicate. The term "maternity care" shall also include care of the newborn in accordance with procedures and techniques recommended in "Hospital Care of Newborn Infants," most recent edition published by the American Academy of Pediatrics;

(6) "Nursing care" means the performance of services necessary in caring for the sick or injured that require specialized knowledge, judgment and skill and meet the standards of the nursing regimen, or the medical regimen, or both, as defined in 26 V.S.A. § 1572(4) and (5);

(7) "Nursing home" means an institution or distinct part of an institution which is primarily engaged in providing to its residents any of the following:

(A) Skilled nursing care and related services for residents who require medical or nursing care.

(B) Rehabilitation services for the rehabilitation of injured, disabled, or sick persons.

(C) On a 24-hour basis, health related care and services to individuals who because of their mental or physical condition require care and services which can be made available to them only through institutional care;

(8) "Person" means any individual, corporation, partnership, association, state, subdivision or agency of the state, or any other entity. Whenever used in any provision of this chapter which prescribes or imposes a fine or imprisonment, or both, the term "person," as applied to a firm, partnership or association, shall include the members thereof and, as applied to a corporation, the officers thereof; a firm, partnership, association or a corporation may be subjected as an entity to the payment of a fine;

(9) "Facility" means a residential care home, maternity home, nursing home, assisted living residence or therapeutic community residence licensed or required to be licensed pursuant to the provisions of this chapter.

(10) "Home for the terminally ill" means a place providing services specifically for three or more dying people, including room, board, personal care and other assistance for the residents' emotional, spiritual and physical well-being. A home for the terminally ill shall not be considered a nursing home, residential care home or any other facility regulated by this chapter.

(11) "Assisted living residence" means a program which combines housing, health and supportive services for the support of resident independence and aging in place. Within a homelike setting, assisted living units offer, at a minimum, a private bedroom, private bath, living space, kitchen capacity, and a lockable door. Assisted living promotes resident self-direction and active participation in decision-making while emphasizing individuality, privacy and dignity. (Amended 1959, No. 27, §§ 1-3; 1965, No. 68, § 1; 1973, No. 153 (Adj. Sess.), § 1; 1975, No. 221 (Adj. Sess.), § 1; 1981, No. 99, § 1; 1983, No. 176 (Adj. Sess.), §§ 1, 2; 1985, No. 151 (Adj. Sess.), § 1; 1991, No. 208 (Adj. Sess.), § 1, eff. May 27, 1992; 1993, No. 114 (Adj. Sess.), § 1; 1997, No. 61, §§ 271b, 271c.)