(1) RESIDENTS’ RIGHTS. Every resident in a nursing home or community-based residential facility shall, except as provided in sub. (5), have the right to: (a) Private and unrestricted communications with the resident’s family, physician, physician assistant, advanced practice registered nurse, attorney, and any other person, unless medically contraindicated as documented by the resident’s physician, physician assistant, or advanced practice registered nurse in the resident’s medical record, except that communications with public officials or with the resident’s attorney shall not be restricted in any event. The right to private and unrestricted communications shall include, but is not limited to, the right to: (2) The department, in establishing standards for nursing homes and community-based residential facilities may establish, by rule, rights in addition to those specified in sub. (1) for residents in such facilities. (3) If the resident is adjudicated incompetent in this state and not restored to legal capacity, the rights and responsibilities estab- lished under this section which the resident is not competent to exercise shall devolve upon the resident’s guardian. (4) Each facility shall make available a copy of the rights and responsibilities established under this section and the facility’s rules to each resident and each resident’s legal representative, if any, at or prior to the time of admission to the facility, to each person who is a resident of the facility and to each member of the facility’s staff. The rights, responsibilities and rules shall be posted in a prominent place in each facility. Each facility shall prepare a written plan and provide appropriate staff training to implement each resident’s rights established under this section. (5) Rights established under this section shall not, except as determined by the department of corrections, be applicable to residents in such facilities, if the resident is in the legal custody of the department of corrections and is a correctional client in such a facility. (6) (a) Each facility shall establish a system of reviewing complaints and allegations of violations of residents’ rights established under this section. The facility shall designate a specific individual who, for the purposes of effectuating this section, shall report to the administrator. (b) Allegations of violations of such rights by persons licensed, certified or registered under chs. 441, 446 to 450, 455 and 456 shall be promptly reported by the facility to the appropriate licensing, examining or affiliated credentialing board and to the person against whom the allegation has been made. Any employee of the facility and any person licensed, certified or registered under chs. 441, 446 to 450, 455 and 456 may also report such allegations to the board. Such board may make further investigation and take such disciplinary action, within the board’s statutory authority, as the case requires. (c) No person who files a report as required in par. (b) or who participates, in good faith, in the review system established under par. (a) shall be liable for civil damages for such acts. (d) The facility shall attach a statement, which summarizes complaints or allegations of violations of rights established under this section, to the report required under s. 50.03 (4) (c) 1. or 2. The statement shall contain the date of the complaint or allegation, the name of the persons involved, the disposition of the matter and the date of disposition. The department shall consider the statement in reviewing the report.
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