Emergency Contraception for Rape Victims (NJ) (Division of Acute Care Certificate of Need and Licensing)
It is a clone of this request.
| Tracking # |
W132189 |
| Submitted | May 1, 2018 |
| Est. Completion | None |
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Communications
From: Vanessa Nason
To Whom It May Concern:
Pursuant to the New Jersey Open Public Records Act, I hereby request the following records:
–A list of hospitals that have been found in violation of the law requiring sexual assault victims to receive emergency contraception upon request
The requested documents will be made available to the general public, and this request is not being made for commercial purposes.
In the event that there are fees, I would be grateful if you would inform me of the total charges in advance of fulfilling my request. I would prefer the request filled electronically, by e-mail attachment if available or CD-ROM if not.
Thank you in advance for your anticipated cooperation in this matter. I look forward to receiving your response to this request within 7 business days, as the statute requires.
Sincerely,
Vanessa Nason
From: Department of Health, Division of Acute Care Certificate of Need and Licensing
Ms. Nason,
This will respond to the above referenced OPRA request. This request is not a valid OPRA request as it seeks information and not a specific government record. Please be advised that the information you are requesting does not exist in the form of a government record. Therefore, the custodian would be required to do research, in that they would need to review every file in their possession to determine if there were a complaint filed that meets your request's criteria and then create a list of those facilities. Per OPRA guidelines, custodians are not required to conduct research or create new documents in response to an OPRA request. As such, per N.J.S.A. 47:1A-1, et seq., your request is denied.
For additional information on what constitutes a valid OPRA request you can visit the Government Records Council FAQ site here: http://www.state.nj.us/grc/public/faqs/
Please let me know if you have any additional questions.
Thank you,
Wayne Casa
Records Custodian
Division of Certificate of Need & Licensing Department of Health
25 South Stockton Street, 2nd floor
PO Box 358
Trenton, NJ 08625-0358
dhcsacustodian@doh.nj.gov
From: Vanessa Nason
Hi,
I'm not sure why this wouldn't respond to a specific government record? Do you not keep track of hospital violations?
Thanks,
Vanessa
From: Department of Health, Division of Acute Care Certificate of Need and Licensing
Ms. Nason,
I apologize if there is any confusion, but the reasons were outlined in my original email. Your request seeks information and not a government record. As stated previously, “the information you are requesting does not exist in the form of a government record. Therefore, the custodian would be required to do research, in that they would need to review every file in their possession to determine if there were a complaint filed that meets your request's criteria and then create a list of those facilities. Per OPRA guidelines, custodians are not required to conduct research or create new documents in response to an OPRA request.”
The Department keeps records on all complaints, regardless of whether or not a violation is found, for a minimum of five years. You have requested “A list of hospitals that have been found in violation of the law requiring sexual assault victims to receive emergency contraception upon request”, however, no such list exists. In order to determine if a violation pertained to the referenced law, the custodian would need to review the complaint/violation. Therefore, in order to respond to this request, the custodian would need to review every record to determine the basis of the complaint and then compile a list of all the facilities with a violation that meets your criteria.
As stated above, per OPRA guidelines, custodians are not required to conduct research (reviewing every record to determine the basis of the complaint is research) or create new documents (since no such list exists, one would need to be created) in response to an OPRA request.
Please let me know if you have any additional questions.
Thank you,
Wayne Casa
Records Custodian
Division of Certificate of Need & Licensing Department of Health
25 South Stockton Street, 2nd floor
PO Box 358
Trenton, NJ 08625-0358
dhcsacustodian@doh.nj.gov<mailto:dhcsacustodian@doh.nj.gov>
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~WRD000