A couple of historic bills protecting residents of long term care facilities were signed into law last month. SB 219 (Wiener) is a first-of-its-kind bill of rights for LGBT residents of nursing homes and residential care facilities for the elderly. It prohibits discrimination based on a resident’s actual or perceived sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, or HIV status and requires facilities to honor residents’ preferences regarding room assignments, names, pronouns, and clothing. AB 940 (Weber) codifies the new federal regulation requiring nursing homes to send copies of resident discharge notices to the Ombudsman program and adds that any violation of the requirement is an automatic Class B citation. The bill should help reduce the growing number of unsafe and inappropriate nursing home discharges that are plaguing residents throughout the state.

Good News from the Capitol! SB 219 and AB 940 Signed Into Law.