ALJDEC decisions subject to certification as final

05-23-NCI · Board of Nursing Care Institution Administrators Examiners · 2005-03-15

IN THE OFFICE OF ADMINISTRATIVE HEARINGS

HEARING: February 24, 2005. APPEARANCES: Applicant Mirela Gaboreanu appeared personally. The Arizona Board of Examiners of Nursing Care Institution Administrators and Assisted Living Facility Managers was represented by Assistant Attorney General Blair Driggs. ADMINISTRATIVE LAW JUDGE: Brian Brendan Tully _____________________________________________________________________ Evidence and testimony were presented and, based upon the entire record, the following Findings of Fact, Conclusions of Law and Recommended Order are made:

FINDINGS OF FACT

1. The Arizona State Board of Examiners of Nursing Care Institution Administrators and Assisted Living Facility Managers (“Board”) is the authority for licensing and regulating nursing care institution administrators and for certifying and regulating assisted living facility managers in the State of Arizona. 2. On or about May 18, 2004, Mirela Gaboreanu (“Applicant”) filed an application with the Board for a temporary assisted living facility manager certificate. 3. On her application Applicant stated that she was employed for 30 hours a week as a caregiver at the Senior Paradise Living facility from January 2004 to May 2004. 4. Board staff contacted the Senior Paradise Living facility and discovered that it had been sold in April 2004 and that Applicant no longer worked there. 5. In May 2004, Board staff sent Applicant a letter which notified her that her application was incomplete and that she needed to submit documentation to verify that she had the required health-care-related work experience. 6. In July 2004, Applicant sent the Board an undated letter written in Romanian, which was subsequently translated into English, from International Duplex, a Romanian facility, which states that Applicant had been employed there as an accountant from October 1996 to January 2002, and she also had worked there as a part-time volunteer caregiver. The letter stated that some of Applicant’s duties as a volunteer included hands-on care giving which is prohibited in Arizona. 7. In August 2004, Applicant sent the Board a second Letter of Intent to Employ document stating that she was the owner of ABC Adult Care Home located at 2101 E. Everett Dr., Phoenix. Applicant requested a Temporary Manager Certificate. 8. In August 2004, Applicant took the Manager exam and failed. 9. The Board sent Applicant a letter directing her to appear at the Board’s October 6, 2004 meeting to answer questions concerning her work experience Applicant appeared and answered questions before the Board. 10. On October 6, 2004, Applicant filed a letter at the Board’s offices from Mariana Marinca, the manager of ABC Adult Care Home. Ms. Marinca advised that since May 1, 2004, Applicant had accumulated a total of 1,440 hours of health related work experience at that facility. However, that amount of hours working was less than the required 12 months (2,080) hours of work experience in the last 5 years. 11. After discussion and review of the application and supporting documents, the Board determined that the Applicant did not meet the requirements for a manager certificate for the following reasons: A.R.S. § 36-446.04(B)(4) requires that Applicant have competed 12 months of work experience in a health related field within the preceding 5 years as prescribed by Board rule; and A.A.C. R9-10- 703(B)(7) prevents volunteer caregivers from performing certain duties, such as the hands-on care giving that Applicant performed in Romania. 12. On October 15, 2004, the Board notified Applicant by certified mail that her application had been denied. 13. On November 3, 2004, Applicant filed her appeal of the Board’s denial of her application. In her appeal Applicant noted that she had an additional 280 hours of health care experience. 14. Applicant’s health care work experience in Romania does not meet the certification requirements in Arizona. 15. At the time of the Board’s denial of her application, Applicant did not have the requisite health care work experience required for certification. 16. At the time of Applicant’s filed appeal, she did not have the requisite health care work experience required for certification. 17. Applicant failed to qualify for certification within 120 days from the date she filed her application with the Board as required by A.A.C. R4- 33-103. 18. However, it now appears that Applicant has acquired the required hours of health care work experience for certification. She may file a new application with the Board for certification. Board staff would then be able to confirm her recently acquired health care work experience.

CONCLUSIONS OF LAW

1. The Board has jurisdiction over the subject matter in this appeal. 2. Pursuant to A.R.S. § 41-1092.07(G)(4), Applicant has the burden of proving her eligibility for certification in her pending application. 3. At the time the Board denied Applicant’s application, she had not provided satisfactory documentation to the Board to show that she “completed twelve months of work experience in a health related field within the preceding five years as prescribed by board rule” as required by A.R.S. § 36-446.04(B)(4). 4. Pursuant to A.A.C. R9-10-703(B)(7), Applicant’s Romanian health care work experience does not qualify for the required work experience in a health related field for certification. 5. Applicant failed to sustain her burden of proof in this appeal. 6. The Board’s prior denial of Applicant’s application for certification is supported by the evidence of record. 7. The conclusion that the Board’s denial should be upheld does not preclude Applicant from filing a new application for certification listing her current health care related work experience, which appears to meet the statutory and regulatory requirements for certification.

RECOMMENDED ORDER

In view of the foregoing, it is recommended that Applicant’s appeal in Docket No. 05-23-NCI be dismissed, and that the denial of Applicant’s pending application for certification by the Arizona Board of Examiners of Nursing Care Institution Administrators and Assisted Living Facility Managers be upheld and affirmed.

Done this day, March 15, 2005.

______________________________________ Brian Brendan Tully Administrative Law Judge

Original transmitted by mail this ____ day of ____________, 2005, to:

Lupe Lerma Acting Executive Director Board of Nursing Care Institution Administrators Examiners 1400 West Washington, Suite 230 Phoenix, AZ 85007

By ___________________________

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Office of Administrative Hearings 1400 West Washington, Suite 101 Phoenix, Arizona 85007 (602) 542-9826