N.J. Admin. Code § 8:43E-3.4

Current through Register Vol. 56, No. 11, June 3, 2024

Section 8:43E-3.4 - Civil monetary penalties

(a) Pursuant to N.J.S.A. 26:2H-13 and 14, the Commissioner may assess a penalty for violation of licensure rules in accordance with the following standards:

1. For operation of a health care facility without a license, or continued operation of a facility after suspension or revocation of a license, $ 1,000 per day from the date of initiation of services;

2. For violation of an order for curtailment of admissions, $ 250.00 per patient, per day from the date of such admission to the date of discharge or lifting of the curtailment order;

3. For failure to obtain prior approval from the Inspections, Compliance and Complaints Program or the Long Term Care Assessment and Survey Program, as applicable, for occupancy of an area or initiation of a service following construction or application for licensure, $ 250.00 a day;

4. For construction or renovation of a facility without the Department of Community Affairs' approval of construction plans, $ 1,000 per room or area renovated and immediate suspension of use in the room or area from the date of initial use until determined by the Department to be in compliance with licensure standards. This determination shall take into account any waivers granted by the Department.

5. For the transfer of ownership of a health care facility without prior approval of the Department, $ 500.00 per day from the date of the transfer of interest to the date of discovery by the Department. Such fine may be assessed against each of the parties at interest;

6. For maintaining or admitting more patients or residents to a facility than the maximum capacity permitted under the license, except in an emergency as documented by the facility in a contemporaneous notice to the Department, $ 25.00 per patient per day plus an amount equal to the average daily charge collected from such patient or patients;

7. For violations of licensure regulations related to patient care or physical plant standards that represent a risk to the health, safety, or welfare of patients or residents of a facility or the general public, $ 500.00 per violation where such deficiencies are isolated or occasional and do not represent a pattern or widespread practice throughout the facility;

8. Where there are multiple deficiencies related to patient care or physical plant standards throughout a facility, and/or such violations represent a direct risk that a patient's physical or mental health will be compromised, or where an actual violation of a resident's or patient's rights is found, a penalty of $ 1,000 per violation may be assessed for each day noncompliance is found;

9. For repeated violations of any licensing regulation within a 12-month period or on successive annual inspections, or failure to implement an approved plan of correction, where such violation was not the subject of a previous penalty assessment, $ 500.00 per violation, which may be assessed for each day noncompliance is found. If the initial violation resulted in the assessment of a penalty, within a 12-month period or on successive annual inspections, the second violation shall result in a doubling of the original fine, and the third and successive violations shall result in a tripling of the original fine;

10. For violations resulting in either actual harm to a patient or resident, or in an immediate and serious risk of harm, $ 2,500 per violation, which may be assessed for each day noncompliance is found;

11. For failure to report information to the Department as required by statute or licensing regulation, after reasonable notice and an opportunity to cure the violation, $ 250.00 per day;

12. For failure to implement a Certificate of Need condition of approval, $ 1,000 per day, which shall be assessed either from the date specified in the Certificate of Need for implementation of the specific condition of approval, if identified, or from the date on which the Certificate of Need was considered to be implemented;

13. For violations of rules governing the prohibition of mandatory overtime contained in N.J.A.C. 8:43E-8, $ 1,000 per violation, which may be assessed for each day noncompliance is found;

14. For failure of an entity licensed in accordance with 26:2H-1 et seq. to submit a serious preventable adverse event report to the Department in a timely fashion, as defined in 8:43E-10.6, the following, which shall be levied from the date following the date the report was due to be submitted to the Department until the date on which the report is received by the Department:

i. $ 1,000 per day for general hospitals, with the maximum penalty assessed per event not to exceed $ 100,000; and

ii. $ 250.00 per day for all other facilities, with the maximum penalty assessed per event not to exceed $ 25,000;

15. For failure of an entity licensed in accordance with 26:2H-1 et seq. to disclose to a patient or resident, pursuant to 8:43E-10.7, a serious preventable adverse event that affected that patient or resident, the following:

i. $ 1,000 for failure to disclose an event that the health care facility also failed to report, in a timely manner, to the Department; and

ii. $ 5,000 for failure to disclose an event that the health care facility reported, in a timely manner, to the Department;

16. For violation of N.J.A.C. 8:43G-12A or 36.3(b)4, governing emergency care for sexual assault victims, $ 5,000 per violation, which may be assessed for each day noncompliance is found;

17. For violations of the requirements of N.J.A.C. 8:43E-11 that result in injury to a health care worker, $ 5,000 per violation, which may be assessed for each day noncompliance is found;

18. For violations of the requirements of N.J.A.C. 8:43E-11 not resulting in injury as set forth in (a)17 above, $ 2,500 per violation, which may be assessed for each day noncompliance is found;

19. For violations of N.J.A.C. 8:43E-12 resulting in either actual harm or immediate and serious risk of harm, to individuals who are directly employed by a covered health care facility, $ 2,500 per violation, which may be assessed for each day noncompliance is found;

20. For other violations of N.J.A.C. 8:43E-12 not resulting in harm as set forth in (a)19 above, $ 1,000 per violation, which may be assessed for each day noncompliance is found; and

21. For violations of N.J.A.C. 8:43E-14, governing human trafficking handling and response training, $ 1,000 per violation, which may be assessed for each day noncompliance is found.

(b) Except for violations deemed to be immediate and serious threats, the Department may decrease the penalty assessed in accordance with (a) above, based on the compliance history of the facility; the number, frequency and/or severity of violations by the facility; the measures taken by the facility to mitigate the effects of the current violation, or to prevent future violations; the deterrent effect of the penalty; and/or other specific circumstances of the facility or the violation.

(c) The Department may increase the penalties in (a) above up to the statutory maximum per violation per day in consideration of the economic benefit realized by the facility for noncompliance.

N.J. Admin. Code § 8:43E-3.4

Amended by 49 N.J.R. 3166(a), effective 9/18/2017