Georgia

Grounds stated in the sources

Rule 111-8-50-.11(2): "In all other situations an involuntary transfer or discharge must be in" "accordance with any of the following reasons and procedures and only after all" "other reasonable alternatives to transfer have been exhausted:" — a physician's determination "that failure to transfer the resident will result in injury or illness to the resident or others"; that "The facility does not participate in, or voluntarily or involuntarily ceases to operate or participate in the program which reimburses for the resident's care."; that "Nonpayment of allowable fees has occurred."; or that "The findings of a Medicare or Medicaid medical necessity review determine that the resident no longer requires the level of care presently being provided". Subsection (1) covers the emergency case separately: "In an emergency situation where the resident or other residents are subject to an imminent and substantial danger that only immediate transfer or discharge will relieve, the facility may involuntarily transfer the resident to another health facility."

Notice stated in the sources

Rule 111-8-50-.11(3): "The facility must give written notice to the resident, guardian or representative, if there is no guardian, and the resident's physician at least 30 days before any proposed transfer or discharge is made in accordance with subsections (2)(a), (2)(b), or (2)(c) of this rule." The required contents follow in the same subsection: "the reasons for the proposed transfer or discharge; the effective date of the proposed transfer or discharge; the location or other facility to which the facility proposes to transfer or discharge the resident; and notice of the right to a hearing pursuant to the Georgia Administrative Procedure Act and Section .15 of these rules and regulations, and of the right to representation by legal counsel." A move within the same facility carries its own period: "the resident and guardian shall receive 15 days written notice prior to such change."

Hearing office in these sources

The Department of Community Health. Rule 111-8-50-.15 states that a person desiring a hearing "may request such a hearing in writing to the Department. The request shall include the person's name, the name of the facility and the reason the hearing is requested. The request shall be mailed or delivered to the Department of Community Health." — no postal address, email or form is stated in the rule, and none was captured elsewhere. The rule states the timing: "The hearing shall be conducted within 45 calendar days of the receipt by the Department of the request for the hearing." and that the department "shall refer the complaint to the state or community ombudsman for informal resolution pending the hearing." The decision "shall be made within 30 calendar days from the date of the hearing".

Ombudsman in these sources

The Office of the State Long-Term Care Ombudsman, "administratively attached to the Department of Human Services' Division of Aging Services (DAS)." The division publishes the contact as: "For more information, go to georgiaombudsman.org or call 1-866-552-4464 and select option "5."" The transfer rule writes the program into the notice: if the resident so desires, "the facility shall also send a copy of such notice to the community ombudsman, or state ombudsman if there is no community ombudsman."

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 Georgia's own publishers state about involuntary transfer and discharge from a long-term care 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 Chapter 111-8-50, the Department of Community Health's residents' bill of rights for long-term care facilities, whose Rule .11 states the grounds, the notice period and the notice's contents, and whose Rule .15 states the administrative hearing. Georgia's vocabulary is involuntary transfer or discharge; the appeal is an administrative hearing before the Department of Community Health under the Georgia Administrative Procedure Act, and the rules also provide an earlier, informal step before an "impartial referee" at the facility.

Two publishers hold it: the Department of Community Health writes the rules and hears the appeal, and the Division of Aging Services houses the ombudsman program. 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.