[Code of Federal Regulations]
[Title 42, Volume 3]
[Revised as of October 1, 2004]
From the U.S. Government Printing Office via GPO Access
[CITE: 42CFR485.62]

[Page 595-596]
 
                         TITLE 42--PUBLIC HEALTH
 
  CHAPTER IV--CENTERS FOR MEDICARE & MEDICAID SERVICES, DEPARTMENT OF 
                  HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES (CONTINUED)
 
PART 485_CONDITIONS OF PARTICIPATION: SPECIALIZED PROVIDERS--Table of Contents
 
    Subpart B_Conditions of Participation: Comprehensive Outpatient 
                        Rehabilitation Facilities
 
Sec. 485.62  Condition of participation: Physical environment.

    The facility must provide a physical environment that protects the 
health and safety or patients, personnel, and the public.
    (a) Standard: Safety and comfort of patients. The physical premises 
of the facility and those areas of its surrounding physical structure 
that are used by the patients (including at least all stairwells, 
corridors and passageways) must meet the following requirements:
    (1) Applicable Federal, State, and local building, fire, and safety 
codes must be met.
    (2) Fire extinguishers must be easily accessible and fire 
regulations must be prominently posted.
    (3) A fire alarm system with local (in-house) capability must be 
functional, and where power is generated by electricity, an alternate 
power source with automatic triggering must be present.
    (4) Lights, supported by an emergency power source, must be placed 
at exits.
    (5) A sufficient number of staff to evacuate patients during a 
disaster must be on the premises of the facility whenever patients are 
being treated.
    (6) Lighting must be sufficient to carry out services safely; room 
temperature must be maintained at comfortable levels; and ventilation 
through windows, mechanical means, or a combination of both must be 
provided.
    (7) Safe and sufficient space must be available for the scope of 
services offered.
    (b) Standard: Sanitary environment. The facility must maintain a 
sanitary environment and establish a program to identify, investigate, 
prevent, and control the cause of patient infections.
    (1) The facility must establish written policies and procedures 
designed to control and prevent infection in the facility and to 
investigate and identify possible causes of infection.
    (2) The facility must monitor the infection control program to 
ensure that the staff implement the policies and procedures and that the 
policies and procedures are consistent with current practices in the 
field.
    (3) The facility must make available at all times a quantity of 
laundered linen adequate for proper care and comfort of patients. Linens 
must be handled, stored, and processed in a mannner that prevents the 
spread of infection.
    (4) Provisions must be in effect to ensure that the facility's 
premises are maintained free of rodent and insect infestation.
    (c) Standard: Maintenance of equipment, physical location, and 
grounds. The facility must establish a written preventive maintenance 
program to ensure that--
    (1) All equipment is properly maintained and equipment needing 
periodic calibration is calibrated consistent with the manufacturer's 
recommendations; and
    (2) The interior of the facility, the exterior of the physical 
structure housing the facility, and the exterior walkways and parking 
areas are clean and orderly and maintained free of any defects that are 
a hazard to patients, personnel, and the public.
    (d) Standard: Access for the physically impaired. The facility must 
ensure the following:
    (1) Doorways, stairwells, corridors, and passageways used by 
patients are--
    (i) Of adequate width to allow for easy movement of all patients 
(including those on stretchers or in wheelchairs); and
    (ii) In the case of stairwells, equipped with firmly attached 
handrails on at least one side.
    (2) At least one toilet facility is accessible and constructed to 
allow utilization by ambulatory and nonambulatory individuals.
    (3) At least one entrance is usable by individuals in wheelchairs.
    (4) In multi-story buildings, elevators are accessible to and usable 
by the

[[Page 596]]

physically impaired on the level that they use to enter the building and 
all levels normally used by the patients of the facility.
    (5) Parking spaces are large enough and close enough to the facility 
to allow safe access by the physically impaired.