Hospital inspections

AN ACT Relating to hospital inspections; and amending RCW 1
70.41.120, 70.41.122, and 70.41.080. 2
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:3
Sec. 1. RCW 70.41.120 and 2009 c 242 s 1 are each amended to 4
read as follows: 5
(1) The department shall make or cause to be made an unannounced 6
inspection of all hospitals ((on average )) at least every 7
((eighteen)) 18 months. Every inspection of a hospital may include an 8
inspection of every part of the premises. The department may make an 9
examination of all phases of the hospital operation necessary to 10
determine compliance with the law and the standards, rules , and 11
regulations adopted thereunder. 12
(2) The department shall not issue its final report regarding an 13
unannounced inspection by the department until: (a) The hospital is 14
given at least two weeks following the inspection to provide any 15
information or documentation requested by the department during the 16
unannounced inspection that was not available at the time of the 17
request; and (b) at least one person from the department conducting 18
the inspection meets personally with the chief administrator or 19
executive officer of the hospital following the inspection or the 20
chief administrator or executive officer declines such a meeting.21
H-2951.1
HOUSE BILL 2577
State of Washington 69th Legislature 2026 Regular Session
By Representatives Macri, Ormsby, Parshley, Pollet, Reed, and Hill
Read first time 01/19/26. Referred to Committee on Health Care &
Wellness.
p. 1 HB 2577
(3) Any licensee or applicant desiring to make alterations or 1
additions to its facilities or to construct new facilities shall, 2
before commencing such alteration, addition or new construction, 3
comply with the regulations prescribed by the department.4
(4) No hospital licensed pursuant to the provisions of this 5
chapter shall be required to be inspected or licensed under other 6
state laws or rules and regulations promulgated thereunder, or local 7
ordinances, relative to hotels, restaurants, lodging houses, boarding 8
houses, places of refreshment, nursing homes, maternity homes, or 9
psychiatric hospitals. 10
(5) To avoid unnecessary duplication in inspections, the 11
department shall coordinate with the department of social and health 12
services, the office of the state fire marshal, and local agencies 13
when inspecting facilities over which each agency has jurisdiction, 14
the facilities including but not necessarily being limited to 15
hospitals with both acute care and skilled nursing or psychiatric 16
nursing functions. The department shall notify the office of the 17
state fire marshal and the relevant local agency at least four weeks 18
prior to any inspection conducted under this section and invite their 19
attendance at the inspection, and shall provide a copy of its 20
inspection report to each agency upon completion. 21
(6)(a) In the event of a federal, state, or local emergency, if 22
the department determines that conducting an unannounced inspection 23
is not in the best interest of public health, the department may 24
temporarily pause inspections of an individual hospital or all 25
hospitals until it determines it is appropriate to resume.26
(b) The provisions of (a) of this subsection do not prohibit or 27
limit the department's responsibility to investigate concerns related 28
to patient well-being described in RCW 70.41.155.29
Sec. 2. RCW 70.41.122 and 2009 c 242 s 2 are each amended to 30
read as follows: 31
Surveys conducted on hospitals by the ((joint commission on the 32
accreditation of health care organizations, the American osteopathic 33
association, or Det Norske Veritas )) department for the purpose of 34
certification by the federal centers for medicare and medicaid 35
services or a department recognized and approved accrediting body for 36
the purpose of accreditation or certification by the federal centers 37
for medicare and medicaid services shall be deemed equivalent to a 38
department survey ((for purposes of meeting the requirements for the 39
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survey specified in RCW 70.41.120)) if the department determines that 1
the applicable survey standards are substantially equivalent to its 2
own. 3
(1) Hospitals so surveyed shall provide to the department within 4
((thirty)) 30 days of learning the result of a survey documentary 5
evidence that the hospital has been certified as a result of a survey 6
and the date of the survey. 7
(2) Hospitals shall make available to department surveyors the 8
written reports of such surveys during department surveys, upon 9
request. 10
(3) Hospitals that provide the department with documentary 11
evidence as described in subsection (1) of this section shall be 12
exempt from the inspection frequency described in RCW 70.41.120(1), 13
and instead will be inspected at least every 36 months.14
(4)(a) In the event of a federal, state, or local emergency, if 15
the department determines that conducting an unannounced inspection 16
is not in the best interest of public health, the department may 17
temporarily pause inspections of an individual hospital or all 18
hospitals until it determines it is appropriate to resume.19
(b) The provisions of (a) of this subsection do not prohibit or 20
limit the department's responsibility to investigate concerns related 21
to patient well-being described in RCW 70.41.155.22
Sec. 3. RCW 70.41.080 and 2008 c 155 s 1 are each amended to 23
read as follows: 24
Standards for fire protection and the enforcement thereof, with 25
respect to all hospitals to be licensed hereunder shall be the 26
responsibility of the chief of the Washington state patrol, through 27
the director of fire protection, who shall adopt, after approval by 28
the department, the recognized standards applicable to hospitals for 29
the protection of life against the cause and spread of fire and fire 30
hazards adopted by the federal centers for medicare and medicaid 31
services for hospitals that care for medicare or medicaid 32
beneficiaries. The standards used for an inspection of an existing 33
hospital, or existing portion thereof, shall be standards for 34
existing buildings and not standards for new construction. The 35
department upon receipt of an application for a license, shall submit 36
to the director of fire protection in writing, a request for an 37
inspection, giving the applicant's name and the location of the 38
premises to be licensed. Upon receipt of such a request, the chief of 39
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the Washington state patrol, through the director of fire protection, 1
or his or her deputy, shall make an inspection of the hospital to be 2
licensed during the department's inspection. If it is found that the 3
premises do not comply with the required safety standards and fire 4
regulations as adopted pursuant to this chapter, the director of fire 5
protection, or his or her deputy, shall promptly make a written 6
report to the department listing the corrective actions required. The 7
department shall incorporate the written report into the department's 8
final inspection report. The applicant or licensee shall submit 9
corrections to comply with the fire protection standards along with 10
any other licensing inspection corrections to the department. The 11
department shall submit the section of the statement of corrections 12
from the applicant or licensee regarding fire protection standards to 13
the director of fire protection. If ((extensive and serious 14
corrections are required )) the hospital's noncompliance constitutes 15
immediate jeopardy, as defined in RCW 70.41.020, or a condition-level 16
violation, the director of fire protection, or his or her deputy, may 17
reinspect the premises. ((The director of fire protection, or his or 18
her deputy, shall utilize the scope and severity matrix developed by 19
the centers for medicare and medicaid services when determining what 20
corrections will require a reinspection. )) Whenever the hospital to 21
be licensed meets with the approval of the chief of the Washington 22
state patrol, through the director of fire protection, he or she 23
shall submit to the department, in a timely manner so the license 24
will not be delayed, a written report approving the hospital with 25
respect to fire protection, and such report is required before a full 26
license can be issued. The chief of the Washington state patrol, 27
through the director of fire protection, shall make or cause to be 28
made inspections of such hospitals ((on average)) at least once every 29
((eighteen)) 18 months. Inspections conducted ((by the joint 30
commission on hospitals accredited by it )) consistent with the 31
requirements in RCW 70.41.122 shall be deemed equivalent to an 32
inspection by the chief of the Washington state patrol, through the 33
director of fire protection, for purposes of meeting the requirements 34
for the inspections specified in this section , and shall be conducted 35
every 36 months, as described in RCW 70.41.122(3).36
The director of fire protection shall designate one lead deputy 37
state fire marshal on a regional basis to provide consistency with 38
each of the department's survey teams for the purpose of conducting 39
the fire protection inspection during the department's licensing 40
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inspection. The director of fire protection shall ensure deputy state 1
fire marshals are provided orientation with the department on the 2
unique environment of hospitals before they conduct fire protection 3
inspections in hospitals. The orientation shall include, but not be 4
limited to: Clinical environment of hospitals; operating room 5
environment; fire protection practices in hospitals; full 6
participation in a complete licensing inspection of at least one 7
urban hospital; and full participation in a complete licensing 8
inspection of at least one rural hospital. 9
In cities which have in force a comprehensive building code, the 10
provisions of which are determined by the chief of the Washington 11
state patrol, through the director of fire protection, to be equal to 12
the minimum standards of the code for hospitals adopted by the chief 13
of the Washington state patrol, through the director of fire 14
protection, the chief of the fire department, provided the latter is 15
a paid chief of a paid fire department, shall make the inspection 16
with the chief of the Washington state patrol, through the director 17
of fire protection, or his or her deputy and they shall jointly 18
approve the premises before a full license can be issued.19
For the purposes of this section, "condition-level violation" 20
means noncompliance that does not present an immediate jeopardy or 21
threat to patient health or safety, but the deficient practice does 22
limit the hospital's capacity to furnish safe and effective care that 23
meets the needs of the patient and otherwise does not substantially 24
meet the applicable licensing requirements.25
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