A new California law is taking effect that requires nursing homes to offer residents copies of any information that explains why they are being evicted, calmatters.org reported Jan. 2.
Documents would include discharge plan and date, place and names of witnesses to any incidents related to the discharge, and could also include why the facility cannot meet the resident's needs. The information can help residents understand the facility's reasoning and possibly file an appeal.
"It's a very minor burden on the facilities to give residents copies of information that they're already having to create or document," Tony Chicotel, a staff attorney with California Advocates for Nursing Home Reform, the bill's sponsor, told the news outlet. "Now residents have information to see if this seems legitimate."
The organization said evictions are one of the most common complaints reported to the state's Long Term Care Ombudsman programs. In the last five years, nursing homes were cited more than 1,800 times for problems with discharge.