§16B-3-1. Health facilities and certain other facilities operated in connection therewith to obtain license; exemptions; meaning of hospital, etc.

No person, partnership, association, corporation, or any state or local governmental unit or any division, department, board, or agency thereof shall establish, conduct, or maintain in the State of West Virginia any ambulatory health care facility, ambulatory surgical facility, freestanding or operated in connection with a hospital, or extended care facility operated in connection with a hospital, without first obtaining a license therefor in the manner hereinafter Provided, That only one license shall be required for any person, partnership, association, corporation, or any state or local governmental unit or any division, department, board, or agency thereof who operates any combination of an ambulatory health care facility, ambulatory surgical facility, hospital, extended care facility operated in connection with a hospital, or more than one thereof, at the same location. Ambulatory health care facilities, ambulatory surgical facilities, hospitals, or extended care facilities operated in connection with a hospital operated by the federal government shall be exempt from the provisions of this article.

A hospital or extended care facility operated in connection with a hospital, within the meaning of this article, shall mean any institution, place, building, or agency in which an accommodation of five or more beds is maintained, furnished, or offered for the hospitalization of the sick or injured: Provided, That nothing contained in this article shall apply to nursing homes, rest homes, personal care facilities, homes for the aged, extended care facilities not operated in connection with a hospital, boarding homes, homes for the infirm or chronically ill, convalescent homes, hotels or other similar places that furnish to their guests only board and room, or either of them: Provided, however, That the hospitalization, care or treatment in a household, whether for compensation or not, of any person related by blood or marriage, within the degree of consanguinity of second cousin to the head of the household, or his or her spouse, shall not be deemed to constitute the premises a hospital or extended care facility operated in connection with a hospital, within the meaning of this article. "Hospital" shall include state hospitals as defined by §27-1-6 of this code.

An "ambulatory health care facility" shall include any facility which provides health care or mental health care to noninstitutionalized persons on an outpatient basis. This definition does not include the legally authorized practice of medicine by any one or more persons in the private office of any health care provider.

"Ambulatory surgical facility" means a facility which provides surgical treatment to patients not requiring hospitalization. This definition does not include the legally authorized practice of surgery by any one or more persons in the private office of any health care provider.

"Director" means the director of the Office of Health Facility Licensure and Certification, or his or her designee.

"Inspector General" means the Inspector General of the Office of the Inspector General as described in §16B-2-1 of this code, or his or her designee.

"Office of Health Facilities Licensure and Certification" means the West Virginia Office of Health Facility Licensure and Certification within the Office of the Inspector General.

The Inspector General designates the director of the Office of the Health Facility Licensure and Certification to enforce the provisions of this article, except where otherwise stated.

Nothing in this article or the rules and regulations adopted pursuant to the provisions of this article shall be construed to authorize the licensure, supervision, regulation, or control in any manner of: (1) Private offices of physicians, dentists, or other practitioners of the healing arts; or (2) dispensaries and first aid stations located within business or industrial establishments maintained solely for the use of employees: Provided, That such facility does not contain inpatient or resident beds for patients or employees who generally remain in the facility for more than 24 hours.

Nothing in this article shall authorize any person, partnership, association, corporation, or any state or local governmental unit or any division, department, board, or agency thereof to engage in any manner in the practice of medicine, as defined by law. This article shall not be construed to restrict or modify any statute pertaining to the placement or adoption of children.