TITLE 31 HEALTH

Section 8. Care and Protection of Indigent and Elderly Patients, 31-8-1 through 31-8-306.

ARTICLE 5 BILL OF RIGHTS FOR RESIDENTS OF LONG-TERM CARE FACILITIES

31-8-108. Required care, treatment, and services; rights in regard thereto; experimental research or treatment.

Each resident shall receive care, treatment, and services which are adequate and appropriate. Care, treatment, and services shall be provided as follows:
1. With reasonable care and skill;
2. In compliance with applicable laws and regulations;
3. Without discrimination in the quality of a service based on the source of payment for the service;
4. With respect for the resident's personal dignity and privacy; and
5. With the goal of the resident's return home or to another environment less restrictive than the facility.
In the provision of care, treatment, and services to the resident by the facility, each resident or guardian shall be entitled to the following:
1. To choose the resident's physician. The physician so chosen shall inform the resident in advance whether or not the physician's fees can be paid from public or private benefits to which the resident is entitled and shall provide such documentation as may be required by law or regulation;
2. To participate in the overall planning of the resident's care and treatment. The resident or guardian shall be informed of this right each time a substantial change in the treatment plan is made;
3. To refuse medical treatment, dietary restrictions, and medications for the resident. The resident or guardian shall be informed of the probable consequences of such refusal, the refusal shall be noted in the resident's medical records, and the resident's attending physician shall be notified as soon as practical. If such refusal apparently would be seriously harmful to the health or safety of the resident, the facility shall either refer the resident to a hospital or notify a responsible family member or, if such a family member is not readily available, the county department of family and children services. If such refusal would be harmful to the health or safety of others, as documented in the resident's medical records by the resident's physician, this subsection shall not apply. Any facility or employee of such facility which complies with this paragraph shall not be liable for any damages resulting from such refusal;
4. To receive from the facility upon the request of the resident, guardian, or representative the name, address, and telephone number of the resident's physician;
5. To have any significant change in the resident's health status reported to persons of his choice by the facility within a reasonable time; and
6. To obtain from the resident's physician or the physician attached to the facility a complete and current explanation concerning the resident's medical diagnosis, treatment, and prognosis in language the resident can understand. Each resident shall have access to all information in the medical records of the resident and shall be permitted to inspect and receive a copy of such records unless medically contraindicated. The facility may charge a reasonable fee for duplication, which fee shall not exceed actual cost.
Each resident shall be free from experimental research or treatment unless the informed, written consent of the resident or guardian is first obtained.

(Code 1933, § 88-1914B, enacted by Ga. L. 1981, p. 149, § 1.)

Cross references.

- Consent for surgical or medical treatment generally, T. 31, C. 9.

JUDICIAL DECISIONS

Duty to protect residents from harm caused by other residents.

- Not only does a nursing home owe the contractual and statutory duty of care and protection to the nursing home's residents to prevent harm to the residents, the nursing home owes the duty of supervision over any known resident whose propensity to cause harm to others is known or should have been known to the management. Associated Health Sys. v. Jones, 185 Ga. App. 798, 366 S.E.2d 147 (1988).

Mere fact that a doctor, psychologist, or psychiatrist has not volunteered to authorize the forms of restraints of O.C.G.A. § 31-8-109 does not discharge the duty of a nursing home to exercise reasonable care and skill for the care and protection of the nursing home's residents from a physically aggressive resident. Associated Health Sys. v. Jones, 185 Ga. App. 798, 366 S.E.2d 147 (1988).

Limitations on duty.

- Although a nursing home had an obligation to provide adequate and appropriate care to the residents under O.C.G.A. § 31-8-108, this obligation did not necessarily entitle the nursing home to interfere with the autonomous contractual relationships of the nursing home's residents. Atlanta Mkt. Ctr. Mgt. Co. v. McLane, 269 Ga. 604, 503 S.E.2d 278 (1998).

Choice of psychologist.

- The Bill of Rights for Residents of Long-term Care Facilities, O.C.G.A. § 31-8-100 et seq., does not give nursing home residents the right to choose a psychologist - it only gives the residents the right to choose a physician and a pharmacist. Pruitt Corp. v. Strahley, 270 Ga. 430, 510 S.E.2d 821 (1999).

Expert affidavit not required for sufficient pleading.

- Trial court erred in dismissing a wrongful death claim by children of a deceased nursing home resident based on their allegation that the nursing home violated O.C.G.A. § 31-8-108(a)(2) of the Bill of Rights for Residents of Long-Term Care Facilities by not documenting the resident's complaints of chest pain as the claim was based on the nonprofessional, administrative aspects of running the facility and, accordingly, it was not subject to the pleading requirement of an expert affidavit pursuant to O.C.G.A. § 9-11-9.1. Williams v. Alvista Healthcare Ctr., Inc., 283 Ga. App. 613, 642 S.E.2d 232 (2007).

Cited in Carr v. Kindred Healthcare Operating, Inc., 293 Ga. App. 80, 666 S.E.2d 401 (2008).

RESEARCH REFERENCES

ALR.

- Judicial power to order discontinuance of life-sustaining treatment, 48 A.L.R.4th 67.

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