Committee hears bill to update licensing rules for health and residential facilities

Senator Mike Yakawich introduced Senate Bill 516 to the House Health and Human Services Committee as an act to revise laws related to facilities licensed by the Department of Public Health and Human Services.

The measure, Yakawich said, is primarily a housekeeping bill meant “to facilitate accuracy of processes, providing up to date information, and streamline licensing consistency for the numerous health care and residential facilities licensed by the office of the inspector general.”

Tara Wooten, licensure bureau chief with the Office of the Inspector General, told the committee she supports the bill and described it as focused on updating terminology, removing inaccuracies and making provisional licensing and license counts consistent across facility types. Wooten said the statutory scheme is “severely outdated” and recounted a 2024 investigation in which a resident of a group home was fatally injured after an alleged assault by a staff member; the incident, she said, revealed limits in the department’s ability to take licensing action when serious abuse or noncompliance occurs.

Wooten said the bill expressly references facility types created in 2023, such as rural emergency hospitals, removes obsolete facility types like medical assistant facilities and clarifies licensing processes to give the department clearer authority to protect residents. She urged the committee for a due pass.

Sen. Yakawich closed by asking the committee to concur and praised the Office of Inspector General and DPHHS for their investigative work and efforts to protect residents’ health, safety and welfare. The committee received no opponents and heard no questions before the hearing closed.

No formal action or vote was recorded in the transcript for Senate Bill 516.