ORS 441.793 Penalties

The Oregon Health Authority shall impose civil penalties in the manner provided in ORS 183.745 for a violation listed in ORS 441.792.

The authority may suspend or revoke the license of a hospital, in the manner provided in ORS 441.030, for a violation described in ORS 441.792.

Each violation of a written hospital-wide staffing plan shall be considered a separate violation and there is no cap on the times that a penalty may be imposed for a repeat of a violation.

The authority may not impose a civil penalty for a violation of a nurse staffing plan, a hospital professional and technical staffing plan or a hospital service staffing plan if the hospital took the following actions:

Scheduled staff in accordance with the staffing plan;

Sought volunteers from all available qualified employees to work extra time;

Contacted qualified employees who made themselves available to work extra time;

Solicited per diem staff to work; and

Contacted contracted temporary agencies, that the hospital regularly uses, if temporary staff from such agencies are permitted to work in the hospital by law or any applicable collective bargaining agreement.

If a hospital nurse staffing committee has not adopted a nurse staffing plan for a unit under ORS 441.762, the authority may not impose a civil penalty for a violation of a direct care registered nurse-to-patient staffing ratio applicable to the unit under ORS 441.765 if the hospital took the following actions:

Scheduled staff in accordance with the direct care registered nurse-to-patient staffing ratio applicable to the unit under ORS 441.765;

Sought volunteers from all available qualified employees to work extra time;

Contacted qualified employees who made themselves available to work extra time;

Solicited per diem staff to work; and

Contacted contracted temporary agencies that the hospital regularly uses if temporary staff from such agencies are permitted to work in the hospital by law or any applicable collective bargaining agreement.

The authority shall maintain for public inspection records of any civil penalties or license suspensions or revocations imposed on hospitals penalized under subsection (1) or (2) of this section.