§ 37.2-424. Powers and duties of Inspector General
The Inspector General shall have the following powers and duties:
1. To operate and manage the Office of the Inspector General and to employ the personnel required to carry out the provisions of this article.
2. To make and enter into contracts and agreements that may be necessary and incidental to carry out the provisions of this article, and to apply for and accept grants from the United States government, agencies and instrumentalities thereof, and any other source, in furtherance of the provisions of this article.
3. To provide inspections of and make policy and operational recommendations for state facilities and for providers, including licensed mental health treatment units in state correctional facilities, in order to prevent problems, abuses, and deficiencies in and improve the effectiveness of their programs and services. The Inspector General shall provide oversight and conduct announced and unannounced inspections of state facilities and of providers, including licensed mental health treatment units in state correctional facilities, on an ongoing basis in response to specific complaints of abuse, neglect, or inadequate care and as a result of monitoring serious incident reports and reports of abuse, neglect, or inadequate care or other information received. The Inspector General shall conduct unannounced inspections at each state facility at least once annually.
4. To access any and all information, including confidential consumer information, related to the delivery of services to consumers in state facilities or served by providers, including licensed mental health treatment units in state correctional facilities. However, the Inspector General shall not be given access to any proceedings, minutes, records, or reports of providers that are privileged under § 8.01-581.17, except that the Inspector General shall be given access to any privileged information in state facilities and licensed mental health treatment units in state correctional facilities. All consumer information shall be maintained by the Inspector General as confidential in the same manner as is required by the agency or provider from which the information was obtained.
5. To keep the Governor, General Assembly, and the Joint Commission on Health Care fully and currently informed by means of reports required by § 37.2-424 concerning significant problems, abuses, and deficiencies relating to the administration of the programs and services of state facilities and of providers, including licensed mental health treatment units in state correctional facilities, to recommend corrective actions concerning the problems, abuses, and deficiencies, and to report on the progress made in implementing the corrective actions.
6. To notify in a timely manner the attorney for the Commonwealth for the locality in which a state facility is located and law enforcement, as appropriate, whenever the Inspector General has reasonable grounds to believe there has been a violation of state criminal law. However, where the Inspector General has reason to believe that a criminal offense has been committed in a state correctional facility, notification of that suspicion shall be given to the Inspector General for the Department of Corrections.
7. To review, comment on, and make recommendations about, as appropriate, any reports prepared by the Department and the critical incident data collected by the Department in accordance with regulations adopted under § 37.2-400 to identify issues related to quality of care, seclusion and restraint, medication usage, abuse and neglect, staff recruitment and training, and other systemic issues.
8. To monitor and participate in the adoption of regulations by the Board.
9. To receive reports, information, and complaints from the Virginia Office for Protection and Advocacy concerning issues related to quality of care provided in state facilities and by providers, including licensed mental health treatment units in state correctional facilities, and to conduct independent reviews and investigations.
For purposes of this section, the term "provider" shall be as defined in § 37.2-403.
(2000, c. 927, § 2.1-816; 2001, cc. 792, 844, § 37.1-256; 2003, cc. 35, 40, 450; 2004, c. 169; 2005, c. 716.)
Sections: Previous 37.2-418 37.2-419 37.2-419.1 37.2-420 37.2-421 37.2-422 37.2-423 37.2-424 37.2-425 37.2-426 37.2-427 37.2-428 37.2-429 37.2-430 37.2-431 NextLast modified: April 16, 2009