West Virginia

Grounds stated in the sources

64 CSR 13, section 4.13.b: "The nursing home shall permit each resident to remain in the nursing home, unless:" — "The transfer or discharge is necessary for the resident's welfare and the resident's needs cannot be met in the nursing home;"; "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 nursing home;"; "The health or safety of persons in the nursing home is endangered;"; "The resident has failed, after reasonable and appropriate notice, to pay for a stay at the nursing home; or"; "The nursing home ceases to operate." A separate subdivision bars one direction of movement outright: "A nursing home shall not discharge a resident requiring the nursing home's services to a community setting against his or her will." A resident may also refuse certain moves within the building, between a Medicare-certified part and a part that is not.

Notice stated in the sources

Section 4.13.e: "The notice of transfer or discharge shall be made by the nursing home at least thirty (30) days before the resident is discharged or transferred, except the notice shall be made as soon as practicable before a transfer or discharge when:" — the discharge is to a community setting under subdivision 4.13.g, the safety or the health of persons in the nursing home would be endangered, "The resident's health improves sufficiently to allow a more immediate transfer or discharge;", "An immediate transfer or discharge is required by the resident's urgent medical needs; or" "A resident has not resided in the nursing home for thirty (30) days." The notice "shall be in a language the resident understands" and must state the reason, the effective date, "The location or other nursing home to which the resident is being transferred or discharged;", the appeal statement below, "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 responsible protection and advocacy agency.

Hearing office in these sources

The State Board of Review, which the rule defines as "A board designated by State law through which a resident may appeal a discharge from a nursing home." The notice must carry "A statement that the resident has the right to appeal the action to the State Board of Review, with the appropriate information regarding how to do so;". The rule states no address, no form, no deadline and no stay pending the appeal, and leaves "the appropriate information regarding how to do so" to the facility to supply. No captured source publishes the Board's own procedure.

Ombudsman in these sources

The Long-Term Care Ombudsman Program. The Bureau of Senior Services states that "West Virginia's State Ombudsman is employed by the Bureau of Senior Services, and the Bureau contracts with West Virginia Legal Aid to conduct the day-to-day operation of the program via an Ombudsman Supervisor and nine Regional Ombudsmen ." Its published route is "call 1-800-834-0598 to speak with an ombudsman or to request services." The Bureau itself is at "1900 Kanawha Blvd. East" "Charleston, WV 25305" with "Phone: (304) 558-3317 , (877) 987-3646". The rule defines an ombudsman as "Any person or organization designated by the State Long Term Care Ombudsman as part of the West Virginia Long-Term Care Ombudsman Program."

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 West Virginia's own publishers state about transfer and discharge from a nursing home. 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. Nearly all of it sits in one place — section 4.13 of 64 CSR 13, the Nursing Home Licensure Rule — which states the grounds, the thirty-day notice and its six exceptions, the notice's seven required contents, the duty to help find an alternative placement, and a prohibition on discharging a resident to the community against their will. West Virginia's vocabulary is transfer or discharge, and the appeal goes to a body the rule calls the State Board of Review.

Two things are worth a reader's attention. West Virginia states a duty other states leave out: on an involuntary transfer the nursing home "shall assist the resident or legal representative or both in finding a reasonably appropriate alternative placement prior to the proposed transfer or discharge and by developing a plan designed to minimize any transfer trauma to the resident." And the appeal, though it has a named forum, has no published address or clock in these sources — the rule requires the facility's notice to supply "the appropriate information regarding how to do so" and states none itself. 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.