2023 New York Laws › PBH - Public Health › Article 28 - Hospitals › 2803-Z - Transfer, Discharge and Voluntary Discharge Requirements for Residential Health Care Facilities.

* §  2803-z.  Transfer, discharge and voluntary discharge requirements
for residential health care facilities. 1.  (a)  No  residential  health
care  facility  shall  transfer  or  discharge  a  resident  unless such
transfer or discharge is necessary for the resident's health, safety, or
welfare, such transfer or discharge is necessary to preserve the health,
safety,  or  welfare  of  other  residents,  the  facility  discontinues
operation  or  the  resident  has failed to pay or make arrangements for
payment for a stay at the facility,  unless  stated  otherwise  by  this
section.
(b)  Prior  to  a  facility  initiating  a  transfer or discharge of a
resident, the facility shall use its best efforts, including  compliance
with  applicable  federal  and  state regulations, to secure appropriate
placement or a residential arrangement  for  the  resident,  other  than
temporary  housing  assistance. For purposes of this section, "temporary
housing assistance" shall  include  but  not  be  limited  to  a  family
shelter,  a  shelter  for  adults,  a  hotel,  an emergency apartment, a
domestic violence shelter, or a safe house for refugees. No  residential
health  care  facility  shall  initiate  a  transfer  or  discharge of a
resident to the home of another individual without the  written  consent
of  the  resident  and the other individual and the other individual has
received and acknowledged the comprehensive discharge  plan  to  address
the resident's needs.
(c)  At  least  thirty  days prior to a facility-initiated transfer or
discharge, the residential health care facility  shall  provide  written
notification   of  the  transfer  or  discharge  to  the  resident,  the
resident's lawful  representative,  if  any,  a  family  member  of  the
resident,  if  known, and the long-term care ombudsman under section two
hundred eighteen of the elder  law.  The  notification  shall  be  in  a
language  and  manner  that  is understandable to the resident and shall
state the basis for the transfer or discharge, which shall  be  recorded
in the resident's clinical record.
(d)  A  resident  may  be transferred or discharged if the facility is
unable to meet the needs of the resident. In that case,  the  resident's
clinical  record  shall  document  (i)  the  specific need or needs that
cannot be met, (ii) the  facility's  attempts  to  meet  the  resident's
needs, and (iii) the services available at the receiving facility.
(e)  When  a  resident  is being transferred or discharged because the
resident cannot be cared for safely, or is a  danger  to  others,  prior
notice  may  be  provided less than thirty days prior to the transfer or
discharge but shall be provided as soon as practicable prior to transfer
or discharge. The facility shall document  in  the  resident's  clinical
record  the  risks  to  the  resident  or others if the resident were to
remain in the facility.
(f) A residential health care facility may  transfer  or  discharge  a
resident  because  the  resident  does  not need residential health care
facility services.
2. Where the resident's transfer or  discharge  is  initiated  by  the
resident  and  the  clinical  record  notes  that  a  family  member  or
designated  representative  has   requested   notification,   and   such
notification  is  otherwise lawful, the residential health care facility
shall notify the family  member  or  designated  representative  of  the
resident's  voluntary transfer or discharge as soon as practicable after
the resident initiates the voluntary transfer or discharge  process  and
in no event more than forty-eight hours thereafter. The notice shall not
be provided if the resident specifically requests that the family member
or designated representative not be notified.
3.  A  residential health care facility shall not compel or attempt to
compel an individual to  voluntarily  transfer  or  discharge  from  the

facility.  In  the  event  a  resident  seeks  a  voluntary  transfer or
discharge, the facility  shall  document,  as  part  of  the  resident's
medical  records,  the  reason  the  resident  is  seeking a transfer or
discharge.  If  the  resident declines to provide a reason, the facility
shall document that in the resident's medical record.
4. Nothing in this section  shall  diminish  a  resident's  rights  to
independent  personal  decisions and knowledge of available choices, nor
shall it diminish the facility's responsibility to encourage and  assist
in  the  fullest  possible  exercise  of  those rights under section two
thousand eight hundred three-c of this article, or other applicable law.
* NB There are 2 § 2803-z's