(A) No person, private or public organization, political subdivision, or other governmental agency may establish, conduct, or maintain a hospice or represent itself as a hospice without first obtaining a license from the department.

(B) A license obtained pursuant to this section is effective for a twelve-month period following the date of issue.

Terms Used In South Carolina Code 44-71-30

  • Department: means the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control. See South Carolina Code 44-71-20
  • Hospice: means a centrally administered, interdisciplinary health care program, which provides a continuum of medically supervised palliative and supportive care for the terminally ill patient and the family including, but not limited to, outpatient and inpatient services provided directly or through written agreement. See South Carolina Code 44-71-20
  • Licensee: means the individual, corporation, or public entity with whom rests the ultimate responsibility for maintaining approved standards for the hospice or hospice facility. See South Carolina Code 44-71-20
  • Primary office: means the main office of a hospice program from which a parent hospice provides hospice services to patients and their families and from which a parent hospice performs oversight, administrative, and coordination of care duties for any multiple location. See South Carolina Code 44-71-20

(C) The license must prescribe by county the geographic area authorized to be served. A hospice that wishes to expand its licensed service area to include additional counties shall first obtain approval from the department confirming that, pursuant to § 44-71-40(C), the hospice has properly filed the application to amend its license to include the additional counties within the prescribed geographic area authorized to be served.

(D) A license issued under this chapter is not assignable or transferable and is subject to suspension or revocation at any time for failure to comply with this chapter.

(E) The department shall publish a current list of all licensed hospices on its website. The information to be published must include, but not be limited to, the licensee‘s primary office as well as any and all registered multiple locations. In addition, the information also must include a list of all counties served by the licensee’s primary office and any and all multiple locations.

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