Wisconsin

Grounds stated in the sources

DHS 132.53(2)(a): "No resident may be discharged or transferred from a facility, except:" — ten circumstances, more than any other state in this index. They are "Upon the request or with the informed consent of the resident or guardian;"; "For nonpayment of charges, following reasonable opportunity to pay any deficiency;"; "If the resident requires care other than that which the facility is licensed to provide;"; "If the resident requires care which the facility does not provide and is not required to provide under this chapter;"; "For medical reasons as ordered by a physician;"; "In case of a medical emergency or disaster;"; "If the health, safety or welfare of the resident or other residents is endangered, as documented in the resident’s clinical record;"; "If the resident does not need nursing home care;"; "If the short-term care period for which the resident was admitted has expired; or"; "As otherwise permitted by law." The rule adds a condition the others do not: except for nonpayment or a medical emergency, "no resident may be involuntarily transferred or discharged unless an alternative placement is arranged for the resident."

Notice stated in the sources

DHS 132.53(3)(a): "The facility shall provide a resident, the resident’s physician and, if known, an immediate family member or legal counsel, guardian, relative or other responsible person at least 30 days notice of transfer or discharge under sub. (2) (a) 2. to 10., and the reasons for the transfer or discharge, unless the continued presence of the resident endangers the health, safety or welfare of the resident or other residents." On contents: "The notice shall also contain the name, address and telephone number of the board on aging and long-term care." Wisconsin also requires a meeting before the move: unless danger requires otherwise, "a planning conference shall be held at least 14 days before transfer or discharge", with seven days' notice of the conference itself, and the transfer activities include "Counseling regarding the impending transfer or discharge;" and a visit to the proposed placement.

Hearing office in these sources

Two stages, both in the rule. First, the department's bureau of quality assurance: "the resident shall send a letter to the nearest regional office of the department’s bureau of quality assurance within 7 days after receiving a notice of transfer or discharge from the facility, with a copy to the facility administrator, asking for a review of the decision." A timely appeal holds the move — "the resident may not be transferred or discharged from the facility until the department’s bureau of quality assurance has completed its review of the decision and notified both the resident and the facility of its decision." — and the bureau decides "within 14 days after receiving written justification for the transfer or discharge of the resident from the facility." Second, either side "may appeal the decision of the department’s bureau of quality assurance in writing to the department of administration’s division of hearings and appeals within 5 days after receipt of the decision." The rule's own note gives the address: "The mailing address of the Division of Hearings and Appeals is P.O. Box 7875, Madison, Wisconsin 53707." No address for the regional bureau office is stated in the rule; it is what the facility must post.

Ombudsman in these sources

The Board on Aging and Long Term Care, an independent state board: "In Wisconsin, the Ombudsman Program has statutory authority to advocate for long-term care consumers aged 60 and over." Its published contact is "1402 Pankratz Street, Suite 111" "Madison, Wisconsin 53704" with "Ombudsman Program/Volunteer Program: 1-800-815-0015" and "Email: BOALTC@Wisconsin.Gov". The rule writes the board into the notice itself, requiring its name, address and telephone number on the face of every transfer or discharge notice.

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 Wisconsin'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. The fullest single source is DHS 132.53 of the Wisconsin Administrative Code, which states the grounds, the alternative-placement condition, the thirty-day notice, the planning conference, bed-hold, and a two-stage appeal — all in one rule. Wisconsin's vocabulary is transfer or discharge; the first appeal is a review by the department's bureau of quality assurance, and the second is to the Division of Hearings and Appeals in a different department entirely.

Two things distinguish Wisconsin. Its grounds list runs to ten rather than the federal six, and it is the only state in this index so far to require that an alternative placement be arranged before most involuntary moves, and that a planning conference be held fourteen days beforehand. 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.