Assisted Living Licensure within the Health Regulation Division of the Minnesota Department of Health oversees and regulates licensed assisted living facility providers in Minnesota. These activities include:
Our mission is to protect, maintain and improve the health of Minnesotans who receive assisted living services.
The Assisted Living Licensure law under Minnesota Statutes, chapter 144G was passed by the 2019 Minnesota Legislature and updated as part of the Legislature's 2020 7th Special Session. The law established regulatory standards governing the provision of housing and services in assisted living facilities and assisted living facilities with dementia care to help ensure the health, safety, well-being, and appropriate treatment of residents. It also authorized the commissioner to adopt rules for all assisted living facilities that promote person-centered planning and service delivery and optimal quality of life, and that ensure resident rights are protected, resident choice is allowed, and public health and safety is ensured.
Date: Monday, Aug. 19
Time: 1 – 2:15 p.m.
The Minnesota Department of Health is hosting a quarterly assisted living update webinar for providers to learn about the most recent assisted living licensing and regulation trends. This webinar will be recorded and posted at a later date for those unable to join the live presentation.
Topics:
Information about how to join the call is available on the Assisted Living Teleconference Calls page.
DHS will add new quality ratings based on MDH surveys to its Minnesota Assisted Living Report Card in early 2025. The Resident Health, Safety, and Staffing ratings will be updated quarterly based on MDH completes on or after July 1, 2024. Information about how surveys are conducted can be found on the Be Prepared for Your Survey section of the Forms and Self-Audit Tools.
For more information, including DHS’ schedule for posting new ratings on the AL Report Card and how MDH surveys will be used to calculate report card ratings, see the Assisted Living Report Card information page on the DHS website.
In 2023, the Minnesota legislature directed the department of health (MDH) and department of human services (DHS) to “consult with assisted living facility license holders who provide customized living and whose facilities are smaller than 11 beds to compile a list of regulatory requirements, compliance with which is particularly difficult for small providers.” The mandate requires the departments to present the list to the chairs and ranking minority members, along with recommendations for easing regulatory burdens.
MDH and DHS worked with small providers, provider organizations, consumer advocates, and related state offices and boards, from March 2023 until October 2023, and compiled a list of burdens for small providers:
The workgroup offered several suggestions to alleviate some of these burdens, which included three potential legislative fixes:
In addition, the workgroup identified many areas where MDH and DHS could optimize processes to increase communication, training, and streamline licensing and payments. Those recommendations are being reviewed and implemented.
Additionally, MDH and DHS sent out a survey to every licensee who was licensed for 10 or fewer beds in November 2023. The survey, which asked about the burdens that were identified by the workgroup, as well as giving open-ended questions to identify additional burdens, had 28% completion rate by providers. You can find the full results at Assisted Living Small Provider Survey Results Report.
The top burdens identified in the survey were:
