RCW 18.51.410 Receivership—Petition to establish—Grounds.

A petition to establish a receivership shall allege that one or more of the following conditions exist and that the current operator has demonstrated an inability or unwillingness to take actions necessary to immediately correct the conditions alleged:

(1) The facility is operating without a license;

(2) The facility has not given the department prior written notice of its intent to close and has not made arrangements within thirty days before closure for the orderly transfer of its residents: PROVIDED, That if the facility has given the department prior written notice but the department has not acted with all deliberate speed to transfer the facility's residents, this shall bar the filing of a petition under this subsection;

(3) The health, safety, or welfare of the facility's residents is immediately jeopardized;

(4) The facility demonstrates a pattern and practice of violating chapter 18.51 or 74.42 RCW and rules adopted thereunder such that the facility has demonstrated a repeated inability to maintain minimum patient care standards; or

(5) The facility demonstrates a pattern or practice of violating a condition level as defined by the federal government under the authority of Title XIX of the social security act.

The department may file a petition in the superior court in the county in which the nursing home is located or in the superior court of Thurston county. The current or former operator or licensee and the owner of the nursing home, if different than the operator or licensee, shall be made a party to the action. The court shall grant the petition if it finds, by a preponderance of the evidence, that one or more of the conditions listed in subsections (1) through (5) of this section exists and, subject to RCW 18.51.420, that the current operator is unable or unwilling to take actions necessary to immediately correct the conditions.

[ 1989 c 372 § 10; 1987 c 476 § 10.]