* § 31.20 Temporary operator.\n (a) For the purposes of this section:\n (1) "Established operator" shall mean the operator of a mental health\nprogram that has been established and issued an operating certificate\npursuant to this article.\n (2) "Extraordinary financial assistance" shall mean state funds\nprovided to, or requested by, a program for the express purpose of\npreventing the closure of the program that the commissioner finds\nprovides essential and necessary services within the community.\n (3) "Mental health program" shall mean a provider of services for\npersons with serious mental illness, as such terms are defined in\nsection 1.03 of this chapter, which is licensed or operated by the\noffice.\n (4) "Office" shall mean the office of mental health.\n (5) "Serious financial instability" shall include but not be limited\nto defaulting or violating material covenants of bond issues, missed\nmortgage payments, a pattern of untimely payment of debts, failure to\npay its employees or vendors, insufficient funds to meet the general\noperating expenses of the program, failure to maintain required debt\nservice coverage ratios and/or, as applicable, factors that have\ntriggered a written event of default notice to the office by the\ndormitory authority of the state of New York.\n (6) "Temporary operator" shall mean any operator of a mental health\nprogram that has been established and issued an operating certificate\npursuant to this article or which is directly operated by the office of\nmental health, that:\n a. agrees to operate a mental health program on a temporary basis in\nthe best interests of its patients served by the program; and\n b. has a history of compliance with applicable laws, rules, and\nregulations and a record of providing care of good quality, as\ndetermined by the commissioner; and\n c. prior to appointment as temporary operator, develops a plan\ndetermined to be satisfactory by the commissioner to address the\nprogram's deficiencies.\n (b) (1) In the event that: (i) the established operator is seeking\nextraordinary financial assistance; (ii) office collected data\ndemonstrates that the established operator is experiencing serious\nfinancial instability issues; (iii) office collected data demonstrates\nthat the established operator's board of directors or administration is\nunable or unwilling to ensure the proper operation of the program; or\n(iv) office collected data indicates there are conditions that seriously\nendanger or jeopardize continued access to necessary mental health\nservices within the community, the commissioner shall notify the\nestablished operator of his or her intention to appoint a temporary\noperator to assume sole responsibility for the program's treatment\noperations for a limited period of time. The appointment of a temporary\noperator shall be effectuated pursuant to this section, and shall be in\naddition to any other remedies provided by law.\n (2) The established operator may at any time request the commissioner\nto appoint a temporary operator. Upon receiving such a request, the\ncommissioner may, if he or she determines that such an action is\nnecessary, enter into an agreement with the established operator for the\nappointment of a temporary operator to restore or maintain the provision\nof quality care to the patients until the established operator can\nresume operations within the designated time period; the patients may be\ntransferred to other mental health programs operated or licensed by the\noffice; or the operations of the mental health program should be\ncompletely discontinued.\n (c) (1) A temporary operator appointed pursuant to this section shall\nuse his or her best efforts to implement the plan deemed satisfactory by\nthe commissioner to correct or eliminate any deficiencies in the mental\nhealth program and to promote the quality and accessibility of mental\nhealth services in the community served by the mental health program.\n (2) If
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