Bill would tighten hospital inspection timelines after JLARC audit; DOH says catch‑up will take years
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Summary
Sponsor and Department of Health backed a bill to clarify hospital inspection intervals (18 months or 36 months when accrediting inspection suffices) following a JLARC audit; DOH warned pandemic pauses mean the inspection backlog could take years to correct even if law is clarified.
Olympia — The committee considered HB 2577 on Jan. 27, a bill intended to implement recommendations from a JLARC audit by clarifying the statutory timeline for Department of Health acute care hospital inspections.
Staff told the committee the bill removes the word ‘‘average’’ from the current statute and specifies an inspection at least every 18 months or every 36 months when a substantially equivalent CMS or DOH‑approved accrediting organization inspection fulfills the requirement. The bill also adds an exception allowing DOH to pause unannounced inspections during federal, state or local emergencies while still investigating patient‑safety complaints.
Representative Macri said the bill is a cleanup to make timelines and responsibilities clear after JLARC found inspection cadence problems. Ramiro Cantu of DOH said the department strongly supports the bill and that it aligns with both JLARC recommendations and DOH strategic priorities.
DOH emphasized operational realities: Cantu warned that because inspections were paused during the COVID public‑health emergency, ‘‘it would take us 3 years from that date to catch back up’’ once the inspection schedule restarts, and said increased inspection volume cannot simply be sustained indefinitely without resources.
Committee members asked how DOH would catch up; Cantu described constraints of staffing, cadence and the need to measure intervals from the department’s last inspection. No committee vote was taken at the hearing.
