Indiana

Grounds stated in the sources

410 IAC 16.2-3.1-12(a)(4): "Health facilities must permit each resident to remain in the facility and not transfer or discharge the resident from the facility unless:" — "(A) the transfer or discharge is necessary for the resident's welfare and the resident's needs cannot be met in the facility;"; "(B) the transfer or discharge is appropriate because the resident's health has improved sufficiently so that the resident no longer needs the services provided by the facility;"; "(C) the safety of individuals in the facility is endangered;"; "(D) the health of individuals in the facility would otherwise be endangered;"; "(E) 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"; "(F) the facility ceases to operate." The department's own notice form carries the same six as checkboxes under the heading "Reason for Transfer or Discharge (Must select one of the reasons below.)".

Notice stated in the sources

The rule states the notice "must be made by the facility at least thirty (30) days before the resident is transferred or discharged", with five stated circumstances in which "Notice may be made as soon as practicable before transfer or discharge". The notice goes out "on a form prescribed by the department" and must reach, among others, "The local long term care ombudsman program (for involuntary relocations or discharges only)." Its required contents include "A statement in not smaller than 12-point bold type" of the appeal right, and the form requires the facility to "attach a copy of the facility’s bed hold policy to this Notice of Transfer or Discharge and provide" contact information for a facility employee about it.

Hearing office in these sources

The Indiana Department of Health. The prescribed notice states: "you may file a written request for a hearing with the" "Indiana State Department of Health postmarked within ten (10) days after you receive this" "notice. If you request a hearing, it will be held within twenty-three (23) days after you receive" "this notice, and you will not be transferred from the facility earlier than thirty-four (34) days" "after you receive this notice of transfer or discharge". The hearing-request form directs the resident to send it "along with the Notice of Transfer or Discharge (State Form 49669) to the Department of Health within" "ten (10) days" to "Indiana Department of Health" "Court Administrator, Office of Legal Affairs" "2 North Meridian Street – Section 3-H" "Indianapolis, Indiana 46204" or to "CourtAdministrator@health.in.gov". The notice form gives the department's questions line as "317-233-7540".

Ombudsman in these sources

The Office of the Long Term Care Ombudsman, which publishes its own contact as "Office of the Long Term Care Ombudsman" "402 West Washington Street, Room W451" "Post Office Box 7083, MS 27" "Indianapolis, Indiana 46207-7083", with "Information/complaint line: 800-622-4484 or 317-232-7134", "Fax number: 317-972-3285" and "Email: LongTermCareOmbudsman@ombudsman.IN.gov". The department's notice form publishes a different address for the same office, under the heading "State Long Term Care (LTC) Ombudsman", naming the "Family and Social Services Administration" at "P.O. Box 7083, 402 W. Washington St." and "IGC South, Room W451 – MS 27"; both are shown here as published.

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 Indiana's own publishers state about involuntary transfer and discharge from a health 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 410 IAC 16.2-3.1-12, "Transfer and discharge rights", read with the two state forms the rule prescribes — the "NOTICE OF TRANSFER OR DISCHARGE", State Form 49669, and the "NOTICE OF TRANSFER OR DISCHARGE REQUEST FOR HEARING", State Form 49831. Indiana's vocabulary distinguishes an "interfacility transfer and discharge", defined as "the movement of a resident to a bed outside of the" "licensed facility", from an "intrafacility transfer" within the same facility; the appeal is a written request for a hearing to the Department of Health. Two publishers hold it: the Department of Health writes the rule, prescribes both forms and hears the appeal, and the Office of the Long Term Care Ombudsman sits separately.

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.