October 1st – DQA Notification and Update:Redistribution of Closed Nursing Home Beds Process Announced
On Wednesday, October 1st, the Division of Quality Assurance (DQA) sent an Gov-D update regarding the announcement of the redistribution of closed nursing home beds process.
Staff at WHCA/WiCAL have been engaged with the Department of Health Services (DHS) in a series of meetings to discuss and review several sections of state statute as the Department seeks comprehensive legislation to update Chapter 150 of Wisconsin law relating to nursing home bed transfers, the reallocation of closed beds, and the allocation of new beds in the future.
In concert with these discussions about Ch. 150, the Department recognized that provisions within DHS Ch. 122 in the administrative code regarding redistributing closed beds conflicted with provisions in state law in Ch. 150.40. The provisions in DHS Ch. 122 were more strict and more complicated than in statute, based on population numbers of persons 65 and older, and the number of beds in the county. Under those rules, only one county met the criteria for the redistribution of beds in the event of a closure. With this recognition, DHS put forward emergency rules to delete the conflicting sections in the admin. code and make some minor updates. With this emergency rule in force, the Department may now use the existing provisions in statute, Ch. 150.40 to redistribute closed nursing home beds within a county in the event of a nursing home closure.
The Gov-D notice on October 1st, was the Department’s notice to providers that the Ch. 150.40 process to redistribute closed beds is now in effect and with details on when DHS will post requests for applications and the application process. The Department plans to post requests for applications twice per year, likely in January and July. The first time the Department may post a request is January of 2026. Importantly, only beds that have closed after August 1, 2025 will be eligible for this redistribution process.
WHCA/WiCAL continue to engage with the Department of Health Services on these issues, please don’t hesitate to reach out to Eric Koch with any questions you might have.
