section .1300 - SANITATION OF HOSPITALS, NURSING HOMES, Adult care homes, and OTHER INSTITUTIONS

15a ncac 18a .1301      DEFINITIONS

The following definitions shall apply throughout this Section:

(1)           "Activity kitchen" means a kitchen that is available to residents of an institution and their guests for the purpose of preparing food for individual or group activities. Nothing in this Section shall prohibit residents or employees of a residential care facility, as that term is defined at 15A NCAC 18A .1601 or their guests from using an activity kitchen when an institution's activity kitchen is in the same building where a residential care facility is located.

(2)           "Administrator" means the person designated by the licensee to be responsible for the daily operation of the institution.

(3)           "Ancillary kitchen" means a kitchen that is used by the institution's employees for meal preparation and other work to support the dietary kitchen. Ancillary kitchens shall meet the requirements of 15A NCAC 18A .2600.

(4)           "Bed linens" means bed sheets, pillowcases, mattress covers, blankets, and duvets covers.

(5)           "Clean" means that an object or surface has been made free of garbage, solid waste, soil, dust, hair, dander, food, bodily fluids and secretions, and feces.

(6)           "Department" means the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services.

(7)           "Dietary kitchen" means the primary kitchen in the institution that is used to provide meals and nutrition services to the institution's residents, employees, and guests. Dietary kitchens shall meet the requirements of 15A NCAC 18A .2600.

(8)           "Disinfect" means a non-sporicidal process used on inanimate surfaces to destroy or irreversibly inactivate fungi, viruses, and bacteria by using an EPA registered disinfectant in accordance with the disinfectant's product label.

(9)           "EPA registered disinfectant" means a disinfectant as defined at 40 C.F.R. 158.2203 that has been registered with the United States Environmental Protection Agency ("EPA") in accordance with 40 C.F.R. 152, which are hereby incorporated by reference, including any subsequent amendments or editions, and available free of charge at https://www.ecfr.gov/.

(10)         "Garbage" means as defined at G.S. 130A-290(7).

(11)         "Good repair" means as defined at 15A NCAC 18A .2651(8). Items that are in good repair shall operate in accordance with the manufacturer's instructions.

(12)         "Hand Hygiene Program" means a written plan implemented in an institution in the absence of hand washing facilities as set forth in this Section. The licensee or the licensee's designee shall submit the hand hygiene program plan to the local health department for the county in which the institution is located, serving as the regulatory authority, for approval prior to implementing the hand hygiene program. The regulatory authority shall notify the institution or the institution's designee in writing of the decision to approve or not to approve the hand hygiene program plan. In determining whether to approve the hand hygiene program, the regulatory authority shall consider the following:

(a)           the type and frequency of activities carried out at the institution that involve employee or resident contact with bodily fluids or secretions; and

(b)           the number of handwashing facilities on each wing or floor of an institution's building or buildings.

(13)         "Institution" means the following establishments that provide room or board and for which a license or certificate of payment must be obtained from the Department:

(a)           hospital, as defined in G.S. 131E‑76 including doctors' clinics with food preparation facilities;

(b)           nursing home, as defined in G.S. 131E‑101;

(c)           an establishment, other than a hospital and nursing home, for the recuperation and treatment of 13 or more persons suffering from physical, behavioral, or mental health conditions;

(d)           adult care home, as defined at G.S. 131D-2.1;

(e)           residential child care facility, as defined at G.S. 131D-10.2(13); and

(f)            facilities that provide room and board to individuals but are exempt from licensure under G.S. 131D-10.4(1).

This term shall not include a child care facility as defined in G.S. 110-86(3), an adult day service facility as defined in 15A NCAC 18A .3300, or a residential care facility as defined in 15A NCAC 18A .1600.

(14)         "Licensing agency" means the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services, Division of Health Service Regulation.

(15)         "Linens" means bath towels, hand drying towels, and bed linens.            

(16)         "Local health department" means as defined in G.S. 130A-2(5).

(17)         "Non-community water supply" means a noncommunity water system as defined at G.S. 130A-313(10).

(18)         "Nourishment station" means an area where commercially packaged food that is used to provide nourishment to an institution's residents, employees, or guests is stored.

(19)         "Pest" means as defined at G.S. 143-460(26a).

(20)         "Pest harborage" means any condition that provides water or food and shelter for pests.

(21)         "Refuse" means as defined at G.S. 130A-290(28).

(22)         "Registered Environmental Health Specialist" or "REHS" means as defined at G.S. 90A-51(4).

(23)         "Regulatory authority" means the Department or authorized agent of the Department.

(24)         "Rehabilitation kitchen" means a kitchen used solely for the purpose of providing supervised therapeutic activities to residents, including occupational or physical therapy. Food prepared in a rehabilitation kitchen shall not be consumed by anyone who is not a participant in the therapeutic activity being conducted in the rehabilitation kitchen.

(25)         "Resident" means an individual residing in or being served by the institution, including patients. This term does not include an institution's employees or a resident's guests.

(26)         "Sanitize" means as defined in Part 4-7 of the Food Code incorporated by reference at 15A NCAC 18A .2650 as amended by 15A NCAC 18A .2654.

(27)         "Solid waste" means as defined at G.S. 130A-290(35).

(28)         "Time/Temperature Control for Safety Food" or "TCS Food" means as defined in Part 1-2 of the Food Code incorporated by reference at 15A NCAC 18A .2650 as amended by 15A NCAC 18A .2651.

(29)         "Yard trash" means as defined at G.S. 130A-290(45).

History Note:        Authority G.S. 130A-4; 130A-29; 130A‑235;

Eff. February 1, 1976;

Readopted Eff. December 5, 1977;

Amended Eff. March 1, 2003 (see S.L. 2002-160); August 1, 1998; February 1, 1997; September 1, 1990; March 1, 1988;

Temporary Amendment Eff. June 1, 2003;

Amended Eff. February 1, 2004;

Readopted Eff. December 1, 2022.