bill setting staffing ratios for Alzheimer’s care facilities

The text as introduced · 277 words

89R15980 LRM-D

By: Thompson
H.B. No. 5336

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to minimum staffing standards and policies for assisted

living facilities that provide care to persons with Alzheimer's

disease or related disorders and to the disclosure of those

standards and policies.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:

SECTION 1. Section 247.029, Health and Safety Code, is

amended by amending Subsection (b) and adding Subsection (b-1) to

read as follows:

(b) The executive commissioner shall adopt minimum

standards for an assisted living facility classified under this

section. The minimum standards must require the facility to:

(1) maintain a minimum staffing ratio of:

(A) for the day shift, one nursing assistant per

seven residents;

(B) for the evening shift, one nursing assistant

per 9.5 residents; and

(C) for the overnight shift, one nursing

assistant per 17 residents;

(2) adopt staffing policies to ensure residents'

needs, as determined by each resident's resident-centered care

plan, are met through direct care by staff at the facility; and

(3) disclose the facility's 24-hour staffing patterns:

(A) to prospective residents and their families;

and

(B) on the facility's Internet website.

(b-1) At least once a month, an assisted living facility

shall post the facility's updated 24-hour staffing pattern

prominently and conspicuously in a public area of the facility that

is readily accessible to residents, employees, and visitors.

SECTION 2. As soon as practicable after the effective date

of this Act, the executive commissioner of the Health and Human

Services Commission shall adopt the minimum standards necessary to

implement the change in law made by this Act.

SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2025.