A. Any person who has been determined by the State Department of Health to have violated any provision of the Oklahoma Hospice Licensing Act or any rule or order of the State Board of Health issued pursuant thereto may be assessed an administrative fine of not less than Fifty Dollars ($50.00) nor more than One Thousand Dollars ($1,000.00) for each day that the violation continues. The maximum administrative fine shall not exceed Ten Thousand Dollars ($10,000.00) for any related series of violations that do not constitute immediate jeopardy to residents. A fine of not less than Five Hundred Dollars ($500.00) per day nor more than Two Thousand Five Hundred Dollars ($2,500.00) per day may be assessed for any violation constituting immediate jeopardy to residents.
B. The amount of the fine shall be assessed by the Department, pursuant to the provisions of subsection A of this section, after notice and hearing. In determining the amount of the fine, the Department shall include, but not be limited to, consideration of:
1. The nature, circumstances, and gravity of the violation;
2. The repetitive nature of the violation by the hospice or by other hospices operated by the same entity;
3. The previous degree of difficulty in obtaining compliance with the Oklahoma Hospice Licensing Act or the rules promulgated pursuant thereto; and
4. With respect to the person found to have committed the violation, the degree of culpability and evidence of a substantial show of good faith by such person in attempting to achieve compliance with the provisions of the Oklahoma Hospice Licensing Act.
C. Any license holder may elect to surrender the first-year or permanent license of such holder in lieu of such fine but shall be forever barred from obtaining a reissuance of the license or any other license issued pursuant to the Oklahoma Hospice Licensing Act.
Added by Laws 1996, c. 231, § 3, eff. July 1, 1996. Amended by Laws 2005, c. 282, § 6, emerg. eff. June 6, 2005.