This All Facilities Letter corrects information sent in AFL 06-22 issued on July 24, 2006.

Licensing regulations require that all emergency/disaster-related occurrences, which threaten the welfare, safety, or health of patients, must be reported to the Department of Health Services (DHS), Licensing and Certification (L&C) Program. In the event your facility is impacted by an emergency or disaster-related occurrence and an evacuation, transfer or discharge of patients’ results as a response to the emergency, you must contact DHS L&C. Please follow these guidelines for reporting such occurrences:

During normal business hours (8:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.) contact the local DHS, L&C district office you customarily work with for your geographic location.

For after-hour reporting or if the local DHS L&C district office is non-operational due to the emergency/disaster, follow the process below:

For facilities outside Los Angeles County, notify the:
State Office of Emergency Services Warning Center at (916) 845-8911
Ask that they notify the DHS duty officer

For facilities in Los Angeles County, notify the:
Los Angeles County Operator at (213) 974-1234
Ask that they notify the on-call Health Facilities Inspection Division Supervisor

Thank you for your cooperation.  If you have any questions, please contact Kathy Clark, Disaster Preparedness Coordinator at (916) 552-8642 or your local DHS L&C district office.

Sincerely,

Original Signed by Kathleen Billingsley, R. N.

Kathleen Billingsley, R. N.
Deputy Director