Community and rural health clinics: building standards.

Existing law requires the Department of Health Care Access and Information, formerly the Office of Statewide Health Planning and Development, in consultation with the Community Clinics Advisory Committee, to prescribe minimum construction standards of adequacy and safety for clinics, as specified, in the California Building Standards Code. This bill would require construction standards for the community clinics or rural health clinics, as defined, established by the department and established or applied by a city or county to comply with safety and accessibility standards required for the physical environment of a clinic to ensure participation in the federal Medicare and Medicaid programs. If the standards are amended, the bill would prohibit the amended standards from being more restrictive or stringent than specified construction standards. The bill would require the Department of Health Care Access and Information to hold a minimum of 2 public meetings to solicit public comment on the proposed new standards. Existing law imposes plan review and building inspection responsibilities on cities and counties for the construction or alteration of buildings where outpatient clinical services or limited inpatient services of a licensed health facility, as defined, are provided when those buildings are separated from a building in which hospital services are provided. Existing law prohibits building standards for the construction or alteration of these buildings from being more restrictive or comprehensive than comparable building standards established or applied to licensed clinics, as defined. This bill would remove the prohibition described above.