601. Accidents and/or Incidents.
A.A facility shall maintain a record of each accident and/or incident, including usage of
mechanical/physical restraints, involving residents, staff members or volunteers, occurring in the facility or
on the facility grounds. A facility’s record of each accident and/or incident shall be documented, reviewed,
investigated, and if necessary, evaluated in accordance with facility policies and procedures, and retained
by the facility for six (6) years after the resident stops receiving services.
B.A facility shall report every serious accident and/or incident that results in a resident’s death or
significant loss of function or damage to a body structure, not related to the natural course of a resident’s
illness or underlying condition or normal course of treatment, and resulting from an accident and/or incident
occurring to residents within the facility or on the facility grounds. Serious accidents and/or incidents
requiring reporting include, but are not limited to:
1. Crime(s) against resident;
2. Confirmed or suspected cases of abuse, neglect, or exploitation;
3. Medication error with adverse reaction;
4. Hospitalization as a result of the accident and/or incident;
17 | Regulation 61-84
5. Severe hematoma, laceration or burn requiring medical attention or hospitalization;
6. Fracture of bone or joint;
7. Severe injury involving use of restraints;
8. Attempted suicide; or
9. Fire.
C.A facility shall immediately report every serious accident and/or incident to the attending physician,
next-of-kin or responsible party, and the Department via telephone, email or facsimile within twenty-four
(24) hours of the serious accident and/or incident.
D.A facility shall submit a written report of its investigation of every serious accident and/or incident to
the Department within five (5) days of the serious accident and/or incident. A facility’s written report to the
Department shall provide at a minimum:
1. Facility name;
2. License number;
3. Type of accident and/or incident;
4. Date accident and/or incident occurred;
5. Number of residents directly injured or affected;
6. Resident record number or last four (4) digits of Social Security Number;
7. Resident age and sex;
8. Number of staff directly injured or affected;
9. Number of visitors directly injured or affected;
10. Name(s) of witness(es);
11. Identified cause of accident and/or incident;
12. Internal investigation results if cause unknown; and
13. Brief description of the accident and/or incident including the location of occurrence and
treatment of injuries.
E.A facility shall retain a report of every serious accident and/or incident with all of the information
provided to the Department and the names, injuries, and treatments associated with each resident, staff
, and/or visitor involved. A facility shall retain all serious accident and/or incident records for six (6) years
after the resident stops receiving services.
F. The administrator or his or her designee shall report every incident involving a resident that leaves the
premises for more than twenty-four (24) hours without notice to staff members of intent to leave to local
law enforcement, the resident’s responsible party, and the Department. The administrator or his or her
the designee shall immediately notify local law enforcement and the responsible party by telephone when a
cognitively impaired resident leaves the premises for any amount of time without notice to staff members.
G.The administrator or his or her designee shall report changes in a resident’s condition, to the extent
that serious health concerns and/or injuries, e.g., fracture, behavioral changes or heart attack, are evident,
to the attending physician and the responsible party immediately, not to exceed twenty- four (24) hours,
consistent with the severity or urgency of the condition in accordance with facility policies and procedures.
H. The administrator or his or her designee shall report abuse and suspected abuse, neglect, or exploitation
of residents to the South Carolina Long-Term Care Ombudsman Program in accordance with 1976 Code
Section 43-35-25.
602. Fire/Disasters (II).
A.The administrator or his or her designee shall notify the Department via telephone or email of any fire
in the facility and submit to the Department a complete written report including fire department reports, if
any within seventy-two (72) hours of the occurrence of the fire.
B.The administrator or his or her designee shall report any natural disaster or fire requiring displacement
of the residents or jeopardizing or potentially jeopardizing the safety of the residents to the Department via
telephone or email immediately, with a complete written report including the fire department or other
reporting authority (as applicable) submitted within seventy-two (72) hours.
603. Communicable Diseases and Animal Bites (I).
All cases of diseases and animal bites are required to be reported to the appropriate county health
the department shall be accomplished in accordance with R.61-20.
604. Administrator Change.
The licensee shall notify the Department via telephone or email within seventy-two (72) hours of any
change in administrator status. The licensee shall provide the Department in writing within ten (10) days
the name of the newly-appointed administrator, the effective date of the appointment, copy of the
administrator’s license and the hours each day the individual will be working as the administrator of the
facility.
605. Accounting of Controlled Substances (II).
Any facility registered with the Department’s Bureau of Drug Control and the United States Drug
Enforcement Agency shall report any theft or loss of controlled substances to local law enforcement and to
the Department’s Bureau of Drug Control upon discovery of the loss/theft.
606. Emergency Placement Notification.
In instances where evacuees have been relocated, the Department shall be notified by the relocating facility
in writing no later than the following workday, the name of the individuals relocated and the name, address
and phone number of the sheltering facility(ies) to which the residents have been relocated.
607. Facility Closure.
A.Prior to the permanent closure of a facility, the licensee shall notify the Department in writing of the
intent to close and the effective closure date. Within 10 days of the closure, the facility shall notify the
Department of the provisions for the maintenance of the records, the identification of those residents
displaced, the relocated site, and the dates and amounts of resident refunds. On the date of closure, the
license shall be returned to the Department.
B.In instances where a facility temporarily closes, the licensee shall notify the Department in writing
within fifteen (15) days prior to the temporary closure. In the event of temporary closure due to an emergency,
the facility shall notify the Department within twenty-four (24) hours of the closure via telephone, email or
facsimile. At a minimum, this notification shall include, but not be limited to: the reason for the temporary
closure, the location where the residents have been/will be transferred, the manner in which the records are
being stored, and the anticipated date for reopening.
The Department shall consider, upon appropriate review, the necessity of inspecting and determining the
applicability of current construction standards of the facility prior to its reopening. If the facility is closed
for a period longer than one year, and there is a desire to re-open, the facility shall re-apply to the
Department for licensure and shall be subject to all licensing requirements at the time of that application,
including construction-related requirements for a new facility.
608. Zero Census.
In instances when there have been no residents in a facility for any reason for a period of 90 days or more,
the facility shall notify the Department in writing that there have been no admissions, no later than the 100th
the day following the date of departure of the last active resident. At the time of that notification, the
Department shall consider, upon appropriate review of the situation, the necessity of inspecting the facility
prior to any new and/or re-admissions to the facility. The facility shall still submit an application and pay
the licensing fee to keep the license active, even though the facility is at zero censuses or temporarily closed.
If the facility has no residents for a period longer than one year, and there is a desire to admit a resident, the
facility shall re-apply to the Department for licensure and shall be subject to all licensing requirements at
the time of that application, including construction-related requirements for a new facility