Hospital improvement grants.

WORKING DRAFT

ORIGINAL SENATE

FILE

NO.
0051

ENROLLED ACT NO. 53, SENATE

FIFTY-EIGHTH LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF
WYOMING
2006 BUDGET SESSION

AN ACT relating to public health and safety; requiring the department of health to establish a magnet hospital grant program and a small hospital grant program as specified; providing grant criteria and deadlines; providing for repayment of grants as specified; requiring matching fund expenditure by grant recipients; granting rulemaking authority; providing appropriations; and providing for an effective date.

Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of
Wyoming
:

Section 1.

(a)

The department of health shall establish a magnet hospital grant program to support efforts by
Wyoming
hospitals to reduce nursing shortages and improve patient safety. The department shall award grants of up to two hundred fifty thousand dollars ($250,000.00) to each of three (3) hospitals in the state to assist in obtaining magnet hospital certification through the
American

Nurses

Credentialing

Center
. The grants shall be awarded through an open competitive process that is publicized among the hospitals in the state. The department shall establish application procedures and grant award criteria through rule and regulation. Criteria shall include, but are not limited to, the following:

(i)

The recipient hospital provides medical care to patients qualified under the Medical Assistance and Services Act, Title XVIII of the federal Social Security Act and the child health insurance program;

(ii)

The grant application shall be accompanied by a narrative that details how the hospital will achieve magnet certification within five (5) years;

(iii)

The grant application shall include a budget that specifies how grant funds will be expended;

(iv)

The grant application and accompanying budget shall document that the hospital will match forty percent (40%) of the grant award with in-kind services or in-cash funds to be expended in achieving magnet hospital certification.

(b)

The magnet hospital criteria shall be those developed by the
American

Nurses

Credentialing

Center
and in effect on January 1, 2006. Any subsequent changes in the magnet hospital certification program shall continue to promote quality nursing practices, a quality nursing working environment, and demonstrated improved outcomes for patients. If subsequent changes in the magnet hospital certification program do not reflect all of these elements, the unexpended amount of grant funds shall be returned to the department.

(c)

The grant award recipients shall achieve magnet hospital status within five (5) years from the date of the grant award. The department shall require periodic reporting by the hospital to determine that progress is being made in preparing and submitting a magnet hospital application and in acquiring the certification. A hospital that fails to meet the five (5) year requirement or make progress toward acquiring the certification, as determined by the department, shall repay the full grant amount to the department if the failure occurs within one (1) year of the grant award date or one-half (1/2) of the grant amount if the failure occurs one (1) year or more after the grant award date.

(d)

The department may expend up to one hundred thousand dollars ($100,000.00) from the appropriation provided in section 2 of this act to provide technical and professional assistance to hospitals receiving the grants in preparing a magnet hospital application and in making the necessary changes in nursing practices and the working environment to attain magnet hospital status. This assistance may be contracted to a
Wyoming
hospital that has previously prepared or submitted a magnet hospital application or to the University of Wyoming Nightingale Center.

Section 2.

Eight hundred fifty thousand dollars ($850,000.00) is appropriated from the budget reserve account to the department of health for grants to hospitals as provided in section 1 of this act, and nine thousand eight hundred dollars ($9,800.00) is appropriated from the general fund to the department of health to administer those grants. Any unexpended funds, including any funds returned by a hospital receiving a grant under this act, shall be deposited in the general fund.

Section 3.

(a)

The department of health shall establish a program to provide grants and technical assistance to hospitals of less than one hundred (100) beds for the promotion of quality nursing practices, quality nursing working environments, increased retention of nursing staff and demonstrated improved outcomes for patients.

(b)

The department may contract with a third party for the technical assistance to hospitals pursuant to this section.

(c)

The department, following consultation with the board of nursing,
Wyoming
hospital association and critical access hospital network, shall promulgate rules and regulations that include award criteria and application procedures for grants pursuant to this section. The rules shall provide that the grant application shall include a commitment from the applicant hospital to match twenty percent (20%) of the grant award with in-kind services or in-cash funds to be expended with the grant funds.

(d)

Recipients of grants pursuant to this section shall be required to report periodically to the department regarding the use of grant funds and measurable results obtained with those funds.

Section 4.

Two hundred thousand dollars ($200,000.00) is appropriated from the budget reserve account to the department of health for grants to hospitals as provided in Section 3 of this act, and six thousand two hundred dollars ($6,200.00) is appropriated from the general fund to the department of health to administer those grants. Any unexpended funds shall be deposited in the general fund.

Section 5.
This act is effective July 1, 2006.

(END)

Speaker of the House

President of the Senate

Governor

TIME APPROVED: _________

DATE APPROVED: _________

I hereby certify that this act originated in the Senate.

Chief Clerk

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