Kentucky

Grounds stated in the sources

900 KAR 2:050, Section 2(1): "The facility shall permit each resident to remain in the facility, and shall 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 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, Medicaid, or state supplementation) a stay at the facility; or"; "The facility ceases to operate." Kentucky's definition reaches moves inside the building: a transfer or discharge includes "Any intrafacility relocation of a resident, except between beds within the same distinct Medicare or Medicaid certified or noncertified part of the facility."

Notice stated in the sources

Section 2(4)(a): except as stated, "the notice of transfer or discharge required under subsection (3) of this section shall be made by the facility at least thirty (30) days before the resident is transferred or discharged." "Notice may be made as soon as practicable before transfer or discharge if:" stated circumstances apply. Before any move the facility must "Notify the resident and the responsible party, responsible family member, or guardian, in writing, of the transfer or discharge and the reasons for the relocation in a language and manner they understand;", record the reasons in the clinical record, and include the listed items — among them, for a resident with a developmental disability or mental illness, "the mailing and email address and telephone number of Kentucky Protection and Advocacy."

Hearing office in these sources

The Cabinet for Health and Family Services. Section 3(5)(b) states the resident or representative "shall inform the cabinet in writing of his or her intent to appeal within fifteen (15) days from receipt of notice of the facility's intent to transfer or discharge" and enclose a copy of the facility's notice. No office, postal address, email or form for that filing is stated in the captured sources. 900 KAR 2:060 states what follows: "Upon receipt of notice of appeal in accordance with 900 KAR 2:050 or 900 KAR 2:020, Section 2(1) and (2), the secretary of the cabinet shall appoint a hearing officer and a hearing shall occur within thirty (30) days." — and "Notice of hearing shall be mailed to the facility and resident not less than ten (10) days prior to the commencement of the hearing." Kentucky also limits what may be appealed: "A resident, responsible party, responsible family member, or guardian has no appeal rights if the resident is moved from a certified bed into another certified bed of the same certification in the same facility."

Ombudsman in these sources

The Office of the State Long Term Care Ombudsman, in the Department for Aging and Independent Living: "The Kentucky Long-Term Care Ombudsman program advocates for residents of nursing homes, personal care homes and family care homes, improving care and encouraging positive change at all levels." The Cabinet publishes an ombudsman listing by county rather than a statewide telephone number on the page reviewed, and states the program "oversees 15 district programs affiliated with Area Agencies on Aging and Independent Living" and "does not charge for services."

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 Kentucky'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 900 KAR 2:050, "Transfer and discharge rights", read with its companion 900 KAR 2:060, which governs the hearing. Kentucky's vocabulary is transfer or discharge, defined together and reaching some moves within the same building; the appeal goes to the Cabinet for Health and Family Services, which appoints a hearing officer.

Two things stand out for a reader. The appeal window is fifteen days from receipt of the notice — half the notice period itself, and the shortest deadline in this index after North Carolina's eleven. And Kentucky states, unusually plainly, which moves carry no appeal right at all. 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.