Editor's note—Former Ch. 11 pertained to nursing homes and derived from Ordinance 6514, adopted 11/3/1994.
Certain documents, copies of which are on file in the office of the city secretary of the City of Irving, being marked and designated as Texas Administrative Code, Title 40 - Social Services and Assistance, Part 1 - Department of Aging and Disability Services, Chapter 19 - Nursing Facility Requirements for Licensure and Medicaid Certification, Subchapter D - Facility Construction, Subchapter L - Dietary Services, and Subchapter R - Physical Plant and Environment, be hereby adopted as the Long Term Care Facility Code for the City of Irving, in the State of Texas; for the control of nursing home facilities as herein provided; and that each and all regulations, provisions, penalties, conditions, and terms of said requirements are hereby referred to, adopted, and made a part hereof, as if fully set out in this chapter. This chapter also includes additional requirements of the City of Irving which do not conflict and are in harmony with the state law.
(Ordinance 2009-9045, § 1, adopted 2/5/2009)
For the purposes of this chapter, the following words and phrases shall have the meanings respectively ascribed to them by this section:
Administrator
means the person in charge of the facility.
Attendant
means a person who is responsible for direct services to a resident or residents of a facility.
Department
means the City of Irving Code Enforcement Department.
Director
means the director of the City of Irving Code Enforcement Department, and includes representatives, agents, or city employees employed in the code enforcement department, or otherwise designated by the director of the department.
Facility
means a long term care facility.
Long term care facility
means a nursing home that furnishes, in one or more facilities, food and shelter to four (4) or more persons who are unrelated to the proprietor of the establishment and provides minor medical treatment under the direction and supervision of a physician licensed by the Texas State Board of Medical Examiners or other services that meet some need beyond the basic provisions of food, shelter, and laundry. This phrase does not include facilities licensed by the Texas Department of Health as acute care hospitals nor does it include those establishments exempted from the provisions of Texas Health and Safety Code Chapter 242 by Section 242.003 Exemptions.
Permit
means the certificate issued by the department that documents operating authority for a facility operating in the city.
Person
means an individual, corporation, business trust, estate trust, partnership, association, two (2) or more persons having a joint or common interest, or any other legal or commercial entity and includes the legal successor of those entities.
Resident
means an individual who resides in a facility.
Responsible party
means an individual authorized by a resident to act for him or her as an official delegate or agent.
Staff member
means any person employed by or working at the facility whether paid by the facility or other person or entity or whether working for other consideration or as a volunteer.
State
means the State of Texas.
Smoke
means to be engaged in the combustion of any cigar, cigarette, pipe, or similar article, using any form of tobacco or any combustible substance in any form. This phrase includes carrying or holding a lighted pipe, cigar, or cigarette of any kind or any other lighted smoking equipment or device and includes lighting, emitting, or exhaling the smoke of a pipe, cigar, or cigarette of any kind.
Valid permit
means an unexpired city permit issued for the long term care facility in its current location to its current owner.
(Ordinance 2009-9045, § 1, adopted 2/5/2009)
A person may not own, operate, administer, manage, direct, advertise, or control a long term care facility in the City of Irving without a valid permit issued by the code enforcement department.
(Ordinance 2009-9045, § 1, adopted 2/5/2009)
(a) 
Any person applying for a facility permit shall submit the following to the code enforcement department:
(1) 
A completed application on a form provided by the department;
(2) 
A copy of the facility's current license obtained from the state authorizing the applicant to operate, own, administer, or manage the facility, or proof that an application for a state license has been submitted.
(3) 
A valid certificate of occupancy obtained through the City of Irving.
(4) 
A current color photograph of the administrator of the facility to be permitted.
(5) 
A nonrefundable two hundred and twenty-five dollar ($225.00) application fee.
(6) 
Legible copies of all material submitted to the state to obtain a state license, and, if applicable, copies of all applications to increase resident capacity, for change of ownership, for license renewal, and of plans for review or approval and feasibility inspections.
(b) 
The director may review the documents submitted and, after fire marshal approval is obtained, may issue a permit valid for a term of one (1) year from the date the permit is issued.
(c) 
The permit is not transferable from one owner to another or from one facility location to another and is void if an attempt has been made to so transfer it.
(d) 
The owner or operator of a facility shall update the information in the application and accompanying material within ten (10) days of the event which changes any information contained in the materials submitted to obtain a permit.
(e) 
The owner or operator of a facility shall pay the city an amount equal to twice the permit fee for that facility if the city has not received the permit fee within thirty (30) days after the expiration date of the previous permit.
(f) 
The permit shall be posted in public view at all times.
(Ordinance 2009-9045, § 1, adopted 2/5/2009)
(a) 
City inspectors may make any inspection, survey, or investigation that they consider necessary and may enter the premises of a facility at reasonable times to make an inspection, survey, or investigation.
(b) 
City inspectors are entitled to access the books, records, and other documents maintained by or on behalf of an institution to the extent necessary to enforce this chapter or any other state, local, or federal law.
(Ordinance 2009-9045, § 1, adopted 2/5/2009)
(a) 
Upon acceptance of the long term care facility permit issued by the department, the permit holder shall:
(1) 
Comply with the provisions of these rules including the adopted State of Texas' Nursing Facility Requirements for Licensure and Medicaid Certification;
(2) 
Maintain a current state license for the facility; however, failure to have a state license is a class B misdemeanor and shall not be an offense under this chapter but will be prosecuted by the proper authorities pursuant to state law;
(3) 
Maintain a current valid City of Irving permit for a long term care facility;
(4) 
Maintain compliance with other applicable city codes, including, but not limited to, the following:
a. 
Chapter 18 of The Code of Civil and Criminal Ordinances of the City of Irving, Texas - Food and Food Establishments; and
b. 
Chapter 48 of The Code of Civil and Criminal Ordinances of the City of Irving, Texas - Smoking.
(Ordinance 2009-9045, § 1, adopted 2/5/2009)
The owner, operator, administrator, and director of each facility shall ensure that compliance is maintained with all state and local fire codes.
(Ordinance 2009-9045, § 1, adopted 2/5/2009)
(a) 
All residents admitted to a long term care facility from and after November 3, 1994, shall have evidence of a test indicating freedom from tuberculosis by standard methods currently recommended by the Texas Department of Human Services.
(b) 
Each full and part time employee who works in a facility shall have evidence of a test indicating freedom from tuberculosis on the first day he or she comes into a facility and annually thereafter.
(c) 
Each facility administrator shall keep the documents required by this section on file at the facility and shall make them available to City of Irving personnel on demand, as permitted by law.
(Ordinance 2009-9045, § 1, adopted 2/5/2009)
(a) 
It is unlawful for any person to smoke in a long term care facility. It is an affirmative defense to this subsection that the person is a resident of the facility and is smoking in a designated smoking lounge that is in compliance with subsection (b) below.
(b) 
The owner, operator, or person in control of any facility may designate for residents only smoking lounges that are completely enclosed and exhausted directly to the outside and maintained under negative pressure sufficient to prevent the air in the smoking lounge from entering any other part of the building. The ventilation system shall provide the smoking lounge with at least sixty (60) cubic feet per minute (CFM) of new air per smoker, which is often supplied by transfer air from other parts of the building, such as corridors. This shall be consistent with the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating, and Air Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) Standard 62-1989 as in a copy of which is on file with the office of city secretary. Doors to this smoking lounge shall be tight fitting and self-closing.
(c) 
Signs shall be posted at all exterior entrances and shall be readily visible from the outside of the building to inform people that smoking is restricted to designated areas for residents only. The smoking lounge shall have a sign designating it for residents only and denoting the maximum number of smokers allowed therein.
(d) 
Signs shall be posted at all exterior entrances stating that smoking is not permitted within twenty-five (25) feet of the doorway.
(e) 
Nothing in this chapter shall prevent the long term care facility from declaring all of the facility as nonsmoking.
(Ordinance 2009-9045, § 1, adopted 2/5/2009)
Violation of any provision of this chapter is a Class C misdemeanor punishable by a fine of one dollar ($1.00) to two thousand dollars ($2,000.00). Each day a provision is violated is a separate offense. Each provision violated in any part of any facility is a separate offense.
(Ordinance 2009-9045, § 1, adopted 2/5/2009)