N.Y. Public Health Law § 4602: Commissioner; powers and duties

§ 4602. Commissioner; powers and duties. The commissioner shall have

the following powers and duties:

1. to receive applications from potential operators of continuing care

retirement communities and to distribute such applications for review to

the participating agencies;

2. to develop uniform forms for applications for certificates of

authority, to review the status of such applications, and to coordinate

the review of such applications in order to minimize duplication or

delay;

3. to provide information to entities wishing to establish continuing

care retirement communities and to persons interested in becoming

residents of such communities, to the extent appropriate, with concerns

relating to the operation of such facilities;

4. to issue certificates of authority to approved applicants;

5. to approve or reject applications to obtain a certificate of

authority for the establishment and operation of a continuing care

retirement community. In reviewing applications, the commissioner shall

consider the extent to which the applications reflect various

sponsorships, organizational structures, geographic dispersion, and the

public benefit. In determining the public benefit of a community

requiring construction of a total nursing facility component greater

than or equal to ninety beds, the commissioner shall obtain and consider

the recommendation of the public health and health planning council with

regard to the effect of the construction of the community's nursing

facility beds upon existing facilities in the same geographic area;

6. to require the reporting of such facts and information as the

commissioner may deem necessary to enforce the provisions of this

article;

7. to coordinate the oversight of operating communities and to assign

review and regulatory responsibility for particular aspects of such

communities to the appropriate agencies, consistent with their legal

authority, to assure consistent state supervision without duplication of

inspection or regulatory review;

8. to make such recommendations to the governor and the legislature as

may be necessary to encourage or further regulate the development of

continuing care retirement communities;

9. to establish and charge equitable and reasonable annual charges for

operators, not to exceed fifty dollars per approved living unit, to

subsidize, in part, expenditures incurred in reviewing applications for

certificates of authority and in inspecting, regulating, supervising and

auditing continuing care retirement communities;

10. to adopt rules and regulations and amendments thereto to

effectuate the provisions of this article;

11. to revoke, suspend, limit, or annul a certificate of authority

under conditions set forth in section forty-six hundred fifteen of this

article, including when such action is taken at the specific request of

any participating council agency;

12. to carry out any other responsibilities entrusted to the

commissioner pursuant to this chapter that may be necessary with regard

to the health care activities of continuing care retirement communities;

13. to make available to all prospective operators all pertinent

regulations regarding health and insurance necessary to comply with this

article;

14. to approve or reject applications for authorization by prospective

continuing care retirement community applicants, entities that have

filed an application for a certificate of authority and operators, to

enter into cancellable priority reservation agreements and to collect

refundable priority reservation fees from prospective residents;

15. to require the reporting of such facts and information as the

commissioner may deem necessary to determine whether characteristics of

residential health care demonstration facilities such as comprehensive

systems of residential and support services for the elderly may be

successfully incorporated into existing or approved continuing care

retirement communities;

16. to review and approve or reject applications by continuing care

retirement community operators to use entrance fees to assist the

operator in financing the construction or purchase of a proposed

continuing care retirement community in accordance with paragraph b of

subdivision six of section forty-six hundred ten of this article;

17. to review and approve or reject any proposed financing by

industrial development agencies of continuing care retirement

communities pursuant to article eighteen-A of the general municipal law

as authorized by section forty-six hundred four-a of this article; and

18. to coordinate the interagency regulatory review of the

applications, development and operations of communities in order to

minimize duplication or delay.