Long-term care facilities: requirements for changes resulting in the inability of the facility to care for its residents.

(1) Existing law imposes various notice and planning requirements upon a long-term health care facility before allowing a change in the status of the license or operation of the facility that results in the inability of the facility to care for its patients or residents, including a requirement for written notification to the affected patients or their guardians at least 30 days prior to the change. Under existing law, these requirements also include taking reasonable steps to medically, socially, and physically assess each affected patient or resident prior to a transfer due to the change, and, when 10 or more residents are likely to be transferred due to a change, the preparation and submission of a proposed relocation plan to the department for approval. A violation of these requirements is a misdemeanor and also may be enforced by the issuance of citations and the imposition of civil penalties. This bill would expand the notice and planning requirements that a long-term health care facility provides before any change in the status of the license or in the operation of the facility that results in its inability to care for its residents. The bill would require a facility to provide 60 days' notice to the affected residents or their guardians and 60-day written notice to the State Long-Term Care Ombudsman. The bill would also require the facility to give written notification to the State Department of Health Care Services and any health plan of an affected resident of the change in the status of the license or the operation of the facility at least 60 days prior to any change in the status of the license or the operation of the facility. The bill would modify who may perform the required assessments of the affected residents. The bill would authorize the State Department of Public Health to require the facility, as part of the proposed relocation plan required when 10 or more residents are likely to be transferred, to provide additional information, including information on the number of residents affected by the proposed closure and an attestation that each resident will undergo a medical assessment, as specified, before being relocated. By expanding the notice and reporting requirements under these provisions, the bill would expand the definition of a crime, thereby imposing a state-mandated local program. The bill would also make technical, nonsubstantive changes to uniformly use the term "resident" and the State Department of Public Health in these provisions. (2) The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement. This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.