Ohio

The grounds, as Ohio describes them

ORC 3721.13(A)(30) states "The right not to be transferred or discharged from the home unless the transfer is necessary because of one of the following", in the statute's own order (codes.ohio.gov, effective October 3, 2023, retrieved 2026-08-30):

(a) "The welfare and needs of the resident cannot be met in the home."

(b) "The resident's health has improved sufficiently so that the resident no longer needs the services provided by the home."

(c) "The safety of individuals in the home is endangered."

(d) "The health of individuals in the home would otherwise be endangered."

(e) "The resident has failed, after reasonable and appropriate notice, to pay or to have the medicare or medicaid program pay on the resident's behalf, for the care provided by the home. A resident shall not be considered to have failed to have the resident's care paid for if the resident has applied for medicaid," unless the stated conditions at (e)(i) and (ii) — a denied application and, if appealed, a denial upheld — are both the case.

(f) "The home's license has been revoked, the home is being closed pursuant to section 3721.08 , sections 5165.60 to 5165.89 , or section 5155.31 of the Revised Code, or the home otherwise ceases to operate."

(g) "The resident is a recipient of medicaid, and the home's participation in the medicaid program is involuntarily terminated or denied."

(h) "The resident is a beneficiary under the medicare program, and the home's participation in the medicare program is involuntarily terminated or denied."

Two neighboring rights are stated with the grounds: ORC 3721.13(A)(31), "The right not to be transferred or discharged from the home to a location that is incapable of meeting the resident's health care and safety needs", and (A)(32), the right not to be transferred or discharged "without adequate preparation prior to the transfer or discharge to ensure a safe and orderly transfer or discharge from the home, including proper arrangements for medication, equipment, health care services, and other necessary services."

The published process

Requesting the hearing

ORC 3721.161(A): "Not later than thirty days after the date a resident or the resident's sponsor receives under section 3721.16 of the Revised Code a notice of a proposed transfer or discharge, whichever date of receiving the notice is later, the resident or resident's sponsor may challenge the proposed transfer or discharge by submitting a written request for a hearing to the state department of health." The pendency statement is at 3721.161(B): "Except in the circumstances described in divisions (A)(1)(a) to (e) of section 3721.16 of the Revised Code, if a resident or the resident's sponsor submits a written hearing request not later than ten days after the date the resident or resident's sponsor received notice of the proposed transfer or discharge, whichever date of receiving the notice is later, the home shall not transfer or discharge the resident" unless the department determines after the hearing that the transfer or discharge complies, or that determination is reversed on appeal. Under 3721.162(B) the hearing officer "shall conduct a hearing in the home not later than ten days after the date the department receives a request", and under (C) "a decision shall be issued not later than thirty days after the department receives a request". If the home transfers or discharges the resident before the decision and the department finds non-compliance, 3721.161(D) states "the home shall readmit the resident in the first available bed". No street address or form for the written request is stated in the sources reviewed; see the change log.

The notice's required contents

ORC 3721.16(A)(2) and OAC 3701-61-03(B) enumerate the contents. The statute requires "The reasons for the proposed transfer or discharge"; "The proposed date the resident is to be transferred or discharged"; a proposed relocation location and notice that the resident and sponsor may choose another; notice of the hearing right and "the manner in which and the time within which the resident or sponsor may request a hearing pursuant to section 3721.161 of the Revised Code"; a statement that the resident will not be moved before the notice date absent agreement; "The address of the legal services office of the department of health"; and "The name, address, and telephone number of a representative of the state long-term care ombudsman program and, if the resident or patient has a developmental disability or mental illness, the name, address, and telephone number of the Ohio protection and advocacy system." The rule adds, at 3701-61-03(B)(4), that the hearing-rights information "will be placed in bold type within the notice", and at (B)(6) the administrator's own name, address, email, and telephone number.

Bed-hold and return

The Department of Medicaid's rule, OAC 5160-3-16.4, defines a bed-hold day as a day a bed is "reserved for a NF resident while the resident is temporarily absent from the NF for hospitalization, therapeutic leave days, or visitation with friends or relatives", and states the Medicaid program will pay to "reserve a bed only for as long as the resident intends to return to the facility, but for not more than thirty days in any calendar year, and only if the requirements of paragraph (D)(3) of this rule are met." On return after the limit, the rule states a resident who loses a "reserved bed under the medicaid bed-hold limit, and is considered to be discharged, shall be admitted to the first available medicaid certified bed in a semiprivate room." The statute's notice pairs with it: ORC 3721.16(F) requires, at the time of transfer to a hospital or for therapeutic leave, written notice "specifying the number of days, if any, during which the resident will be permitted under the medicaid program to return and resume residence in the home", and states that a resident absent longer who still requires the home's services "shall be given priority for the first available bed in a semi-private room."

The three rows above hoist the questions a home's counsel answers in the first fifteen minutes. They are quotations from Ohio's published sources, not a determination that any of them applies to any situation.

Notice periods and deadlines, as stated in the sources

All quoted; none calculated.

Thirty days' advance notice — ORC 3721.16(A)(1): the notice "shall be provided at least thirty days in advance of the proposed transfer or discharge", unless one of the five circumstances at (A)(1)(a) to (e) applies, in which case "the notice shall be provided as many days in advance of the proposed transfer or discharge as is practicable."

Thirty days to request the hearing — ORC 3721.161(A), quoted in full above.

Ten days for the stay while the hearing proceeds — ORC 3721.161(B), quoted in full above.

Ten days to the hearing — ORC 3721.162(B): the hearing officer conducts the hearing in the home "not later than ten days after the date the department receives a request", unless the parties agree otherwise.

Five days to the decision, thirty at the outside — ORC 3721.162(C): "the hearing officer shall issue a decision within five days of the date the hearing concludes. In all cases, a decision shall be issued not later than thirty days after the department receives a request".

Thirty bed-hold days in any calendar year — OAC 5160-3-16.4, quoted in full above.

What any of these periods means for a particular case is for the hearing office to determine.

Source map

Captured: all seven, in tools/packets/ohio-packet.txt. Pending: a Department of Health page publishing a street address for filing the hearing request (searched odh.ohio.gov and the codified sources; none found as a stable first-party page).

Change log

2026-08-30 — Page built from the first Ohio packet. All seven sources captured first-party. Findings: (1) The codified filing route is "a written request for a hearing to the state department of health" with no street address, form, or portal stated; the notice itself must carry the legal services office's address and telephone number (OAC 3701-61-03(B)(7)). (2) Ohio's enumerated grounds run to eight, including license revocation, closure, and involuntary termination of the home's Medicare or Medicaid participation; ORC 3721.16(D) states that a resident may not challenge a transfer or discharge required because of four of those closure-type reasons. The federal page quotes six grounds from 42 CFR 483.15(c)(1)(i); both texts stand as published, reconciled nowhere. (3) The Department of Aging's page describes grounds and notice under "The Nursing Home Reform Law of 1987" in its own summary language, which differs in wording from both the statute and the federal regulation; all are quoted from their own publishers. (4) The bed-hold rule's own effective date is August 17, 2017, the oldest source on this page. Capture pending: per the source map. Internet Archive: not yet submitted. Reviewer: Carrie Schluter, reviewed 2026-08-30. Corrections: hello@fieldassembly.net.