Section 22-B2699. DEFINITIONS

 

2699.1When used in this chapter, the following terms and phrases shall have the meanings ascribed:

 

Act - The Health-Care and Community Residence Facility, Hospice and Home Care Licensure Act of 1983, D.C. Code, 2001 Ed. §§44-501 to 44-554.

 

Center - A maternity center as defined below.

 

Communicable disease - any disease as defined in 22 DCMR §299.

 

D.C. or District - the District of Columbia.

 

Department - the Department of Health of the District of Columbia.

 

Director - the Director of the D.C. Department of Health.

 

Hospital - any building or part of a building, or group of buildings, in which there are facilities, services, or ancillary services provided for the housing of two (2) or more persons not related by blood or marriage within the third (3rd) degree of consanguinity to the owner, operator, or manager of the building, part of the building, or group of buildings, for the diagnosis, treatment, or care of physical or mental conditions for a period of more than twenty-four (24) consecutive hours; or for maternity care involving labor and delivery for any period of time.

 

Infant - a person under the age of one (1) year.

 

Infant, newborn - any newly delivered infant.

 

Laboratory - any area in the maternity center or hospital set up for chemical, bacteriological, and histopathological examinations.

 

Maternity care - medical and/or nursing care of women for pregnancy, delivery, or the puerperal state, or for any condition intimately related to the pregnancy, delivery, or puerperal state.

 

Maternity center - a facility or other place, other than a hospital or the mother's home, that provides antepartal, intrapartal, and postpartal care for both mother and newborn infant during and after normal, uncomplicated pregnancy.

 

Maternity and newborn service - that part of the hospital in which, as a regular practice, pregnant women are delivered of babies, pregnant or puerperal women receive care, and in which newborn infants receive care.

 

Medical record - a maternity center or hospital record of a patient that provides identifying information about the patient and information about his or her medical condition, progress, and treatment.

 

Midwifery services - techniques and practices provided by a nurse-midwife to women in childbirth.

 

Newborn care - medical and/or nursing care of newborn infants.

 

Nurse - any person engaged in providing nursing care, and includes professional and non-professional nursing personnel.

 

Nurse-midwife - an advanced practice registered nurse educated in midwifery and certified by the American College of Nurse-Midwives.

 

Nurse, registered - a person who is licensed and currently registered by the Board of Nursing of the District to practice professional nursing in the District; or a person licensed to practice in another jurisdiction whose application for registration is pending in the District.

 

Obstetrician - a physician who is certified in obstetrics by the American Board of Obstetrics and Gynecology, or who has training and experience in obstetrics substantially equivalent to that required for certification.

 

Obstetrics - the provision of medical care and services to women during and after pregnancy.

 

Patient - a person who has been admitted to a maternity center or hospital for the diagnosis, treatment, or care of physical or mental conditions.

 

Pediatrician - a physician who is certified by the American Board of Pediatrics, or who has training and experience in pediatrics substantially equivalent to that required for that certification.

 

Person - any individual, firm, partnership, corporation, company, organization or association; including executors, administrators, guardians, trustees, directors, and agents.

 

Pharmacist - a person who is authorized to practice pharmacy by the Board of Pharmacy of the District of Columbia.

 

Physician - a person licensed or registered by the Board of Medicine of the District to practice medicine and surgery, or a person licensed in another jurisdiction whose application for a license or registration is pending in the District.

 

Rated bed capacity - the number of beds, exclusive of bassinets for newborn infants, normally available for the full-time care of patients when the minimum number of square feet of floor space per bed and other standards specified in this chapter are applied.

 

source

Notice of Final Rulemaking published at 46 DCR 2779 (March 19, 1999); as amended by Corrected Notice of Final Rulemaking published at 46 DCR 3970 (April 30, 1999).