STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
2847
2021-2022 Regular Sessions
IN SENATE
January 26, 2021
___________
Introduced by Sens. KAVANAGH, SEPULVEDA -- read twice and ordered print-
ed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Health
AN ACT to amend the public health law, in relation to the closure of
nursing homes
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. The public health law is amended by adding a new section
2 2828 to read as follows:
3 § 2828. Closure of nursing homes. 1. In the event that an operator of
4 a nursing home elects to close the facility, the following shall apply:
5 (a) The operator shall notify the department in writing at least nine-
6 ty days prior to the anticipated date of closure of the nursing home.
7 (b) The written notice shall include a proposed plan for closure of
8 the nursing home. The plan shall be subject to approval by the commis-
9 sioner, include timetables for all steps in the closure process and
10 describe the procedures and actions the operator will take to:
11 (i) notify residents of the closure, including provisions for termi-
12 nation of admission agreements and involuntary discharge;
13 (ii) assess the needs and preferences of individual residents;
14 (iii) assist residents in locating and transferring to appropriate
15 alternative settings; and
16 (iv) maintain compliance with these regulations until all residents
17 have relocated.
18 (c) Copies of the written notice shall be concurrently delivered to
19 the chief executive officer and the presiding officer of the local
20 legislative body of each county, except a county wholly contained within
21 a city, town or village in which the nursing home is located, the facil-
22 ity's residents' council and, in a city of a million or more population,
23 also to the community board in whose district the nursing home is
24 located.
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD04645-01-1
S. 2847 2
1 (d) If such officer, legislative body or board has cause to suspect or
2 believe that an operator of a nursing home is electing to close a facil-
3 ity for reasons other than the health and safety of the residents, such
4 officer, legislative body or board may:
5 (i) convene closed or public meetings, upon notice to the department
6 and the nursing home operator, that must conclude within forty-five days
7 of the operator's notice;
8 (ii) examine any information relevant to needs of the community and
9 the impact of the closure on stakeholders; and
10 (iii) recommended to the commissioner as to whether the application
11 for closure should be approved, modified or rejected.
12 (e) The closure plan shall be made available to the public.
13 2. (a) The operator shall take no action to close the nursing home
14 prior to approval by the commissioner of the plan for closure.
15 (b) The operator shall not close the nursing home until all residents
16 of the nursing home have transferred to appropriate alternative
17 settings.
18 (c) The operator shall not increase the amount of any fees or charges
19 charged to the residents of the nursing home, their families or their
20 insurance companies, if any, prior to approval of the plan for closure.
21 The operator shall not institute any new fees or charges to the resi-
22 dents of the nursing home, their families or their insurance companies,
23 if any, prior to approval of the plan for closure.
24 (d) The operator shall not accept new residents, admissions, or trans-
25 fers for the nursing home, after the operator has notified the depart-
26 ment that the operator intendeds to close the nursing home, unless (i)
27 each such new resident, admission or transfer is notified prior to
28 acceptance of the intended date of closure, or (ii) the operator's
29 election to close the nursing home has been abandoned.
30 3. As part of the approval of the closure plan, the commissioner and
31 operator shall:
32 (a) create a plan for the maintenance, storage and safekeeping, and
33 ultimate disposition of its patient medical records and provide for the
34 transfer or access to such records to the patients, their treating
35 health care providers, or lawful representatives;
36 (b) create a plan to insure that arrangements for continued care which
37 meet each resident's social, emotional and health needs, to be effectu-
38 ated sixty days prior to closure;
39 (c) implement the approved plans and prompt surrender of the operating
40 certificate upon closure; and
41 (d) make a full copy of such plans available to the public on the
42 department's website and shall update the posting should the plans
43 change.
44 4. Failure of a nursing home operator to comply with any provision of
45 this section or the terms of any agreement with or conditions imposed by
46 the commissioner under this section shall result in the imposition of
47 penalties under this chapter.
48 § 2. This act shall take effect on the first of April after it shall
49 become a law, and shall apply to all closures of nursing homes occurring
50 on or after such effective date and to all closures of nursing homes
51 pending such effective date. Effective immediately, the commissioner of
52 health shall make regulations and take other actions reasonably neces-
53 sary to implement this act on that date.
