Committee approves senior care‑facility closure rules requiring transition plans and notice

The House Business, Labor and Commerce Committee favorably recommended HB 472 (first substitute, as amended), which seeks to require assisted-living facilities to submit a transition plan to the health department ahead of an intended closure, qualifying sale or change of use and to provide residents with earlier notice and relocation assistance.

Representative Ochs, the bill sponsor, said the bill responds to incidents in which residents were moved out with little advance notice after selecting a new facility. "This bill seeks to ensure that vulnerable residents in these facilities are given proper care, adequate time for transition, and the necessary protections as facilities go through significant changes," Ochs said, describing stakeholder discussions with the Utah Healthcare Association and other trade groups.

Under the first substitute as amended in committee, facilities would submit a proposed transition plan to the state health department 120 days before an intended closure, sale or change of use; that plan must identify residents and their care needs, list options within a 60‑mile radius and provide a timetable for transfer and discharge. Facilities must provide notice to residents 60 days before closure and may not accept new residents after the approved plan is filed. The amended language also shortens certain notice windows in the substitute: committee amendment changed the resident‑notice period from 60 to 45 days in one subsection and reduced a 90‑day rate‑freeze period to 60 days for certain continuation sales.

Stakeholders representing assisted‑living operators told the committee they support the bill’s consumer‑protection goals but expressed concerns about unintended operational consequences, particularly staff attrition after premature public notice of an impending closure. Steve Hyatt of the Utah Assisted Living Association said some facilities prefer shorter notice to avoid staff departures that could leave residents without care. "If we announce a closure at the 30‑day mark, we may lose the cook. We may lose the nurse … and if we lose that, we can't care for our residents," Bobby Ginn, a board member of the Utah Assisted Living Association, told the committee.

Allison Spangler, CEO of the Utah Healthcare Association, said trade groups are close to agreement on timing and appreciate the sponsor's willingness to continue negotiating language. "We really appreciate what this bill is trying to do, which is providing transparency around the sale and closure of an assisted living facility," Spangler said.

Representative Burton moved, and the committee adopted, the first substitute and a subsequent amendment that adjusted timing from the initial draft (changing the 60‑day and 90‑day provisions to 45 and 60 as amended). Representative Peterson moved passage with a favorable recommendation. The committee took a roll‑call vote on the final motion; the chair announced the bill passed unanimously and will proceed to the House floor.

The sponsor said she will continue stakeholder discussions as the bill moves forward.