Health and care facilities: inspections and penalties.

(1) Existing law generally requires the State Department of Public Health to license, regulate, and inspect health and care facilities. Existing law specifically requires the department to adopt regulations that require a general acute care hospital, an acute psychiatric hospital, and a special hospital to meet minimum nurse-to-patient ratios and assign additional staff according to a documented patient classification system for determining nursing care requirements. Existing law also generally requires the department to periodically inspect every health facility for which a license or special permit has been issued for compliance with state laws and regulations, and to ensure that those…