(a)        Except as provided in subsection (b) of this section, no person or other entity shall operate or represent himself or itself to the public as operating a hospice, a hospice inpatient facility, or a hospice residential care facility, or offer or represent himself or itself to the public as offering hospice services without obtaining a license from the Department pursuant to this Article.

(b)        Hospices administered by local health departments established under Article 2 of Chapter 130A of the N.C. Gen. Stat. shall not be required to be licensed under this Article.? Additionally, health care facilities and agencies licensed under Article 5 or 6 of Chapter 131E of the N.C. Gen. Stat. shall not be required to be separately licensed under this Article.? However, any facility or agency exempted from licensure under this subsection which operates a hospice, a hospice inpatient facility, or a hospice residential care facility, or offers hospice services shall be subject to rules adopted pursuant to this Article.

(c)        Hospice care shall be available 24 hours a day, seven days a week. (1983 (Reg. Sess., 1984), c. 1022, s. 1; 1993, c. 376, s. 7.)

Terms Used In North Carolina General Statutes 131E-203

  • Department: means the Department of Health and Human Services. See North Carolina General Statutes 131E-201
  • Hospice: means any coordinated program of home care with provision for inpatient care for terminally ill patients and their families. See North Carolina General Statutes 131E-201
  • Hospice inpatient facility: means a freestanding licensed hospice facility or a designated inpatient unit in an existing health service facility which provides palliative and supportive medical and other health services to meet the physical, psychological, social, spiritual, and special needs of terminally ill patients and their families in an inpatient setting. See North Carolina General Statutes 131E-201
  • Hospice residential care facility: means a freestanding licensed hospice facility which provides palliative and supportive medical and other health services to meet the physical, psychological, social, spiritual, and special needs of terminally ill patients and their families in a group residential setting. See North Carolina General Statutes 131E-201
  • Hospice services: means the provision of palliative and supportive medical and other health services to meet the physical, psychological, social, spiritual, and special needs of patients and their families, which are experienced during the final stages of terminal illness and during dying and bereavement. See North Carolina General Statutes 131E-201
  • Person: means an individual, trust, estate, partnership, or corporation including associations, joint-stock companies, and insurance companies. See North Carolina General Statutes 131E-1
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