| (a) The Texas Health and Human Services Commission
(HHSC) may petition a court of competent jurisdiction for the involuntary
appointment of a trustee to operate a facility if one or more of the
following conditions exist:
(1) the facility is operating without a license;
(2) the facility's license has been suspended or revoked;
(3) license suspension or revocation procedures against
a facility are pending and an imminent threat to the health and safety
of the residents exists;
(4) an emergency exists that presents an immediate
threat to the health and safety of the residents; or
(5) the facility is closing (whether voluntarily or
through an emergency closure order) and arrangements for relocation
of the residents to other licensed facilities have not been made before
closure.
(b) A trustee appointed under this section is entitled
to a reasonable fee as determined by the court to be paid from the
Nursing and Convalescent Home trust fund.
(c) The trustee may use the emergency assistance funds
in the trust fund only to alleviate an immediate threat to the health
and safety of the residents, through such disbursements as payments
for food; medication; sanitation services; minor repairs; supplies
necessary for personal hygiene; or services necessary for the personal
care, health, and safety of the residents.
(d) Before emergency assistance funds may be dispersed,
a court order must be entered authorizing HHSC to disburse emergency
assistance funds to the facility.
(e) A facility that receives emergency assistance funds
under this section must reimburse HHSC for the amounts received not
later than one year after the date on which the funds were received
by the trustee. The owner of the facility at the time the trustee
was appointed is responsible for the reimbursement and must pay interest
from the date the funds were disbursed on the amount outstanding at
a rate equal to the rate of interest determined under Texas Finance
Code, Chapter 302 (relating to Interest Rates), to be applicable to
judgments rendered during the month in which the money was disbursed
to the facility. HHSC will deposit the reimbursement and the interest
received under this subsection to the credit of the Nursing and Convalescent
Home Trust Fund.
(f) Any amount remaining due at the end of one year
becomes delinquent and will be referred to the attorney general.
(g) HHSC may determine that the facility is ineligible
for a Medicaid provider contract.
|
| Source Note: The provisions of this §551.238 adopted to be effective February 1, 1999, 23 TexReg 11829; transferred effective May 1, 2019, as published in the Texas Register April 12, 2019, 44 TexReg 1883; amended to be effective February 24, 2022, 47 TexReg 787 |
