What's happening
This bill expands the temporary operator program in New York to cover more types of healthcare and adult care facilities.
Why it matters
Expanding the temporary operator program to cover more types of healthcare and adult care facilities means that state intervention is possible in a wider range of settings when management or financial crises threaten patient or resident care. This could help prevent disruptions in services for vulnerable populations.
The bill clarifies and broadens definitions, making clear that “facility” now refers to both hospitals and adult care facilities, not just certain types of health centers. This ensures that oversight and emergency management tools can be applied more consistently across the healthcare and adult care sectors.
The language updates who can serve as a temporary operator and under what circumstances, which may improve the state’s ability to quickly stabilize struggling facilities by allowing more flexibility in appointments and clearer criteria for intervention.
By specifying financial instability and improper delegation of management authority as triggers for state intervention, the bill aims to address facility mismanagement or financial distress before they escalate into full-blown crises that could harm patients or residents.
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Who cares
Headline styles
Expand Temporary Operator Program
Plain English, a few words. Used as the page title.
Sponsors
No co-sponsors yet.
History
- Referred to health
- Returned to senate
- Died in assembly
- Referred to health
- Delivered to assembly
- Passed senateVote 47–11
- Advanced to third reading
- 2nd report cal.
- 1st report cal.272
- Referred to health
Full text
2 pagesUnderlined is new[Struck] is removedOfficial text on nysenate.gov ↗
STATE OF NEW YORK
1223
2025-2026 Regular Sessions
IN SENATE
January 8, 2025
Introduced by Sen. RIVERA -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Health
AN ACT to amend the public health law, in relation to expanding the scope of the temporary operator program
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows:
Section 1. Subdivision 1 of section 2806-a of the public health law, as added by section 50 of part E of chapter 56 of the laws of 2013, paragraph (g) as added by section 7 of part K of chapter 57 of the laws of 2015, is amended to read as follows:
1. For the purposes of this section:
(a) "adult care facility" shall mean an adult home or enriched housing program licensed pursuant to article seven of the social services law or an assisted living residence licensed pursuant to article forty-six-B of this chapter;
(b) "established operator" shall mean the operator of [an adult care] a facility[, a general hospital or a diagnostic and treatment center that has been established and issued an operating certificate as such pursuant to this article];
(c) "facility" shall mean (i) a [general] hospital [or a diagnostic and treatment center that has been issued an operating certificate as such pursuant to this article]; or (ii) an adult care facility;
(d) "temporary operator" shall mean any person or entity that:
(i) agrees to operate a facility on a temporary basis in the best interests of its residents or patients and the community served by the facility; and
(ii) has demonstrated that [he or she has] they have the character, competence and financial ability to operate the facility in compliance with applicable standards;
(e) "serious financial instability" shall include but not be limited to defaulting or violating key covenants of loans, or missed mortgage
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[ ] is old law to be omitted.
LBD03486-01-5
payments, or general untimely payment of obligations, including but not limited to employee benefit fund, payroll tax, and insurance premium obligations, or failure to maintain required debt service coverage ratios or, as applicable, factors that have triggered a written event of default notice to the department by the dormitory authority of the state of New York; and
(f) "extraordinary financial assistance" shall mean state funds provided to a facility upon such facility's request for the purpose of assisting the facility to address serious financial instability. Such funds may be derived from existing programs within the department, special appropriations, or other funds.
(g) "improper delegation of management authority by the governing authority or operator" of a [general hospital] facility shall include, but not be limited to, the delegation to an entity that has not been established as an operator of the [general hospital] facility of (i) authority to hire or fire the administrator or other key management employees; (ii) maintenance and control of the books and records; (iii) authority over the disposition of assets and the incurring of liabilities on behalf of the facility; and (iv) the adoption and enforcement of policies regarding the operation of the facility. The criteria set forth in this paragraph shall not be the sole determining factors, but indicators to be considered with such other factors that may be pertinent in particular instances. Professional expertise shall be exercised in the utilization of the criteria. All of the listed indicia need not be present in a given instance for there to be an improper delegation of authority.
§ 2. This act shall take effect immediately; provided the amendments to section 2806-a of the public health law made by section one of this act shall not affect the repeal of such section and shall be deemed repealed therewith.
Reflowed for reading: line numbers and page breaks removed. Cite the official text.
Sponsor's memo
Title of bill
An act to amend the public health law, in relation to expanding the scope of the temporary operator program
Purpose or general idea of bill
To extend the law authorizing temporary operators for certain health care facilities to also cover nursing homes.
Summary of provisions
Section 1 amends section 2806-a of the Public Health Law, as it relates to the appointment of temporary operators of certain health facilities, to modify the definition of 'facility" covered by the law, to include nursing homes. The current law covers only general hospitals, diagnostic and treatment centers, adult care facilities, and assisted living resi- dences, but not nursing homes. This bill expands the definition to any facility defined as a "hospital" under Public Health Law section 2801 (1), thereby bringing in nursing homes.
Section 2 is an immediate effective date
Justification
The 2013 budget enacted PHL S 2806-a, which authorizes the appointment of temporary operators for general hospitals, diagnostic and treatment centers, adult care facilities, or assisted living residences. A tempo- rary operator may be appointed by the Commissioner of Health in the event that a facility faces serious financial instability or conditions in the facility seriously endangers the life, health, or safety of resi- dents or patients.
This bill would be a significant step forward in nursing home reform. Nursing homes were excluded from the current scope of the law. However, there is no policy justification for doing so. The temporary operator law is an important process for ensuring oversight of facilities and protection of their residents and patients. This bill would bring nurs- ing homes into it by amending definitions but does not make other chang- es to the law.
Prior legislative history
2024: S9131 Rivera / A6034-B Paulin - Vetoed memo. 32
Fiscal implications
Undetermined.
Effective date
Immediately.
Summaries, headlines and scores are AI-generated from the official bill text. How we score bills. Source: NYS Open Legislation.