Every assisted living facility and residential care home in Colorado should have a copy of Colorado’s assisted living regulations available to anyone who asks.
It’s also wise for residents of assisted living facilities, their families, and caregivers to be familiar with these regulations, or at least know where to find them for reference.
These regulations are also very useful to anyone wishing to open an assisted living home, as they offer an idea of how much there is to stay on top of in your day-to-day operations.
Who is responsible for regulating assisted living in Colorado?
This honor goes to the Department of Public Health and Environment, Health Facilities and Emergency Medical Services Division.
https://www.colorado.gov/cdphe/hfems
Visiting their site, you’ll be able to get their mailing address; health facilities certification and licensure contacts; complaints and occurrence reporting and more.
Can I get a copy of Colorado’s Assisted Living Regulations?
You can, and they are under the Colorado Secretary of State’s website, Code of Colorado Regulations.
You can get the PDF here:
This document is 44 pages (at this time) and is under 6 CCR 1011-1 Chap 07.
The regulations document begins with a helpful section for definitions of a number of common terms used within the assisted living industry in Colorado.
Terms include:
- Abuse
- Administrator
- Activities of Daily Living
- Assisted Living Residence
- Deficiency
- Ombudsman
- Physical Abuse
- Protective Oversight
and many more.
Here is a screen grab of some of the definitions:
You will also learn about Licensure for assisted living in Colorado, as well as License Fees (which varies depending on the number of beds for the facility), and application information.
This regulations document also covers staff training, admissions, emergency plans, resident rights and disclosures, discharge, dietary and dining services; laundry services and so much more.
For owners and administrators of assisted living residences in Colorado, it is obviously imperative for you to know these regulations well. Failure to do so will most certainly result in inspections deficiencies, potentials for compromised resident safety, as well as probable fines, and details plans of correction.
