The definitions in this section apply throughout this chapter unless the context clearly requires otherwise.
(1) "Adult day services" means care and services provided to a nonresident individual by the assisted living facility on the assisted living facility premises, for a period of time not to exceed ten continuous hours, and does not involve an overnight stay.
(2) "Assisted living facility" means any home or other institution, however named, which is advertised, announced, or maintained for the express or implied purpose of providing housing, basic services, and assuming general responsibility for the safety and well-being of the residents, and may also provide domiciliary care, consistent with chapter 142, Laws of 2004, to seven or more residents after July 1, 2000. However, an assisted living facility that is licensed for three to six residents prior to or on July 1, 2000, may maintain its assisted living facility license as long as it is continually licensed as an assisted living facility. "Assisted living facility" shall not include facilities certified as group training homes pursuant to RCW 71A.22.040, nor any home, institution or section thereof which is otherwise licensed and regulated under the provisions of state law providing specifically for the licensing and regulation of such home, institution or section thereof. Nor shall it include any independent senior housing, independent living units in continuing care retirement communities, or other similar living situations including those subsidized by the department of housing and urban development.
(3) "Basic services" means housekeeping services, meals, nutritious snacks, laundry, and activities.
(4) "Dementia" means the irreversible loss of cognitive or intellectual function such as thinking, remembering, and reasoning so severe that it interferes with an individual's daily functioning and everyday life. "Dementia" is not a specific diagnosis, but rather a group of symptoms that accompany certain diseases or conditions including, but not limited to, Alzheimer's disease, vascular dementia, frontotemporal dementia, Lewy body dementia, alcohol-related dementia, and major neurocognitive disorder. "Dementia" does not include temporary or reversible destabilization due to delirium or behavioral or mental health disorders.
(5) "Department" means the state department of social and health services.
(6) "Domiciliary care" means: Assistance with activities of daily living provided by the assisted living facility either directly or indirectly; or health support services, if provided directly or indirectly by the assisted living facility; or intermittent nursing services, if provided directly or indirectly by the assisted living facility.
(7) "General responsibility for the safety and well-being of the resident" means the provision of the following: Prescribed general low sodium diets; prescribed general diabetic diets; prescribed mechanical soft foods; emergency assistance; monitoring of the resident; arranging health care appointments with outside health care providers and reminding residents of such appointments as necessary; coordinating health care services with outside health care providers consistent with RCW 18.20.380; assisting the resident to obtain and maintain glasses, hearing aids, dentures, canes, crutches, walkers, wheelchairs, and assistive communication devices; observation of the resident for changes in overall functioning; blood pressure checks as scheduled; responding appropriately when there are observable or reported changes in the resident's physical, mental, or emotional functioning; or medication assistance as permitted under RCW 69.41.085 and as defined in RCW 69.41.010.
(8) "Legal representative" means a person or persons identified in RCW 7.70.065 who may act on behalf of the resident pursuant to the scope of their legal authority. The legal representative shall not be affiliated with the licensee, assisted living facility, or management company, unless the affiliated person is a family member of the resident.
(9) "Memory care facility" or "memory care unit" means any assisted living facility which markets, or otherwise represents, itself as providing memory care or specialized dementia care services, whether as a facility dedicated solely to serving residents with dementia or within a dedicated unit or wing within a larger facility. An assisted living facility does not need to specifically use the terms "memory care facility," "specialized dementia care," or similar terms in its name to be considered a memory care facility under this chapter. If any part of an assisted living facility has restricted egress that prevents residents with cognitive impairment from leaving the facility without accompaniment by staff or another individual, it is sufficient to be considered as a memory care facility or memory care unit requiring certification under RCW 18.20.540.
(10) "Memory care services" and "specialized dementia care services" means services offered and provided in addition to the domiciliary care services provided by the assisted living facility that are responsive to the typical needs of an individual with dementia.
(11) "Nonresident individual" means a person who resides in independent senior housing, independent living units in continuing care retirement communities, or in other similar living environments or in an unlicensed room located within an assisted living facility. Nothing in this chapter prohibits nonresidents from receiving one or more of the services listed in RCW 18.20.030(5) or requires licensure as an assisted living facility when one or more of the services listed in RCW 18.20.030(5) are provided to nonresidents. A nonresident individual may not receive domiciliary care, as defined in this chapter, directly or indirectly by the assisted living facility and may not receive the items and services listed in subsection (7) of this section, except during the time the person is receiving adult day services as defined in this section.
(12) "Person" means any individual, firm, partnership, corporation, company, association, or joint stock association, and the legal successor thereof.
(13) "Resident" means an individual who is not related by blood or marriage to the operator of the assisted living facility, and by reason of age or disability, chooses to reside in the assisted living facility and receives basic services and one or more of the services listed under general responsibility for the safety and well-being of the resident and may receive domiciliary care or respite care provided directly or indirectly by the assisted living facility and shall be permitted to receive hospice care through an outside service provider when arranged by the resident or the resident's legal representative under RCW 18.20.380.
(14) "Resident applicant" means an individual who is seeking admission to a licensed assisted living facility and who has completed and signed an application for admission, or such application for admission has been completed and signed in their behalf by their legal representative if any, and if not, then the designated representative if any.
(15) "Resident's representative" means a person designated voluntarily by a competent resident, in writing, to act in the resident's behalf concerning the care and services provided by the assisted living facility and to receive information from the assisted living facility, if there is no legal representative. The resident's competence shall be determined using the criteria in chapter 11.130 RCW. The resident's representative may not be affiliated with the licensee, assisted living facility, or management company, unless the affiliated person is a family member of the resident. The resident's representative shall not have authority to act on behalf of the resident once the resident is no longer competent.
(16) "Secretary" means the secretary of social and health services.