Alabama

Grounds stated in the sources

Rule 420-5-10-.06(1)(b) of the Rules of the Alabama State Board of Health: "The facility must permit each resident to remain in the facility, and not transfer or discharge the resident from the facility unless--" — "The transfer or discharge is necessary for the resident's welfare and the resident's needs cannot be met in the facility;"; "The transfer or discharge is appropriate because the resident's health has improved sufficiently so the resident no longer needs the services provided by the facility;"; "The safety of individuals in the facility is endangered;"; "The health of individuals in the facility would otherwise be endangered;"; "The resident has failed, after reasonable and appropriate notice, to pay for (or to have paid under Medicare or Medicaid) a stay at the facility."; or "The facility ceases to operate." The rule defines the reach of the move: "Transfer and discharge includes movement of a resident to a bed outside of the certified facility whether that bed is in the same physical plant or not. Transfer and discharge does not refer to movement of a resident to a bed within the same certified facility."

Notice stated in the sources

Rule .06(1)(e): "the notice of transfer or discharge required under paragraph (d) 1 of this section must be made by the facility at least 30 days before the resident is transferred or discharged." Five circumstances allow notice "as soon as practicable", including that "A resident has not resided in the facility for 30 days." The required contents are stated at (1)(f): "The reason for transfer or discharge;"; "The effective date of transfer or discharge;"; "The location to which the resident is transferred or discharged;"; "A statement that the resident has the right to appeal the action to the State;"; "The name, address and telephone number of the State long term care ombudsman;"; and, for residents with developmental disabilities or mental illness, the contacts for "the Alabama Developmental Disabilities Advocacy Program (ADDAP) at the University of Alabama School of Law".

Hearing office in these sources

Not stated in the sources reviewed. The rule requires the notice to carry "A statement that the resident has the right to appeal the action to the State;" and names no office, no address, no form and no deadline for that appeal. Rule 420-5-10-.05 requires the facility to give residents the names, addresses and telephone numbers of state advocacy bodies — "the State survey and certification agency, the State licensure office, the State ombudsman program, the protection and advocacy network, and the Medicaid fraud control unit" — but states no appeal route, and rule 420-5-10-.02, also searched, provides hearings for licensees rather than residents. What the Department of Public Health publishes separately is a complaint route to the survey agency, which is a different thing: "If you have a complaint about the care of a resident in a nursing home located in Alabama, the Alabama State Survey Agency has the regulatory responsibility for all nursing homes in the state." — with the "ElderCare Hotline at 1-800-356-9596." and a written route to "ATTN: Complaint Unit, Alabama Department of Public Health, Bureau of Health Provider Standards, 201 Monroe Street, Suite 700, Montgomery, AL 36130-3017". This page does not present that as an appeal of a discharge, because no captured source says it is.

Ombudsman in these sources

The Long Term Care Ombudsman program: "The Alabama Department of Senior Services administers a Long Term Care Ombudsman" program "that provides services to protect individuals residing in nursing facilities, assisted living facilities, specialty care facilities and boarding homes." The guide publishes one contact route: "Call" "1-800-AGELINE to reach your local Ombudsman." — a word, not a digit string, as the guide prints it. The rule requires the facility's own notice to carry the state ombudsman's name, address and telephone number.

Sources last checked

2026-08-30

Reproduced from the agencies' own pages and documents quoted below — potentially relevant official sources, not a determination that any notice, ground, or deadline applies to any situation.

Lede

This page assembles what Alabama's own publishers state about involuntary transfer and discharge from a nursing facility. It is a baseline page: the docket rows and the source map are built; the grounds section and the published-process section are not yet written, as the change log records. The fullest single source is Rule 420-5-10-.06 of the Rules of the Alabama State Board of Health, "Admission, Transfer, Transport And Discharge Rights", which states the grounds, the thirty-day notice and its exceptions, the notice's required contents, the bed-hold notice and the readmission duty. Alabama's vocabulary is transfer and discharge, defined by where the bed is rather than by the building: a move to a bed outside the certified facility counts even when it is in the same physical plant, and a move within the certified facility does not.

The rule also carries a provision no other state in this index has: a resident who cannot ride upright, or who needs observation or treatment en route, may be transported only by a licensed ambulance service operator, with "upright position" defined as "no more than 20 degrees from vertical." What the rule does not carry is where an appeal goes. It requires the notice to state the right "to appeal the action to the State" and stops there. The federal floor for Medicare/Medicaid-certified facilities is assembled separately on [the federal page](../federal.html); nothing here fills a gap from federal law or another state. Confirm applicability with the agencies named in the sources: whether any provision applies to a particular facility, resident, or notice is for the hearing office to determine. Deadlines and periods on this page are quoted from the sources, not calculated for any case.