New Construction or Conversion of an Existing Building to a Nursing Home

To open a new nursing home facility, the process begins with an application for Certificate of Need. After Certificate of Need is approved , you will be assigned a BHS number. The architectural plans must be reviewed and approved by Health Facilities Engineering Section, and a  construction permit  must be issued prior to the start of construction. Contact the Health Facilities Engineering Section of the Division of Health Facilities and Services at (517) 241-3408 for further information on this process.

Contact the Division of Nursing Home Monitoring at 517-334-8408 to be directed to the appropriate Licensing Officer. Notify your Licensing Officer of your plans and keep in touch as you build.  Notify the Licensing Officer when you are near completion. At the conclusion of construction, the Bureau of Fire Services and the Health Facilities Engineering Section staff must inspect the facility. A recommendation for approval for occupancy will be made to the Licensing Officer after the construction project has been inspected and found to meet all requirements. 

Division of Nursing Home Monitoring - Licensure and Certification Process

Below are some terms that may help you understand the Division of Nursing Home Monitoring's process:

Licensure - Licensure is mandatory.  All nursing homes providing organized nursing care and medical treatment 24 hours per day in a residential setting to seven (7) or more unrelated individuals are required to be licensed by the Michigan Department of Community Health.  Licensure is a state function and facilities must meet the state regulations to become licensed.

Certification - Certification is voluntary.  Nursing home providers seeking to receive Medicare/Medicaid payment for services provided to nursing home residents must receive Medicare/Medicaid certification and must be enrolled with Medicare/Medicaid.  Facilities must meet state and federal regulations for certification.

Medicare  is the federal health insurance program that pays for medically necessary skilled nursing facility or home health care for: people age 65 or older; some people under age 65 with disabilities; and people with end-stage renal disease (ESRD), which is permanent kidney failure requiring dialysis or a kidney transplant.

Medicaid  is a joint state and federal government program that pays for certain health services and nursing home care for some people with low incomes and limited assets.

A request for licensure, Medicare enrollment forms and the State of Michigan Medicaid enrollment forms are needed at the time a tentative opening date is established. They must be no more than 90 days old when the Division of Nursing Home Monitoring does the initial survey, so submission is based upon the opening date.

 Here are  Nursing Home Application Forms  for:

 * Licensed Only

 * Licensure and Certification with Medicare Only

 * Licensure and Certification with Medicare/Medicaid

 * Medicaid Enrollment Forms  

A building inspection will be done by the Health Facilities Engineering Section and the Bureau of Fire Servicesto give approval for occupancy. A criminal background check must also be done as part of the hiring process for facility staff (see www.miltcpartnership.org). The facility should contact the Michigan Criminal Background Check Program at 1-877-718-5547 and request a username and password. The Division of Nursing Home Monitoring must do an initial licensure survey before residents can be admitted. Once the facility is approved for licensure, the Department will either mail or e-mail the facility an invoice. The state licensure fee is $2.20 per licensed bed per year. There is no certification fee. The license fee must be paid before a license will be issued.

When applying for certification the facility must have 8-10 residents residing in the facility for several weeks before a certification survey for compliance with federal long-term care requirements will be conducted by the Division of Nursing Home Monitoring.

Nursing homes must meet the licensure rules and federal regulations for certification. In addition, the home must meet requirements of Parts 201 and 217 of the Michigan Public Health Code. You will need to obtain this information from the Division of Nursing Home Monitoring website at: Nursing Home Laws and Regulations. Look at all of the links available there.

This office has no information on loans for construction or purchase of a nursing home. The Small Business and Technology Development Center, toll free at 1-877-873-4567 may be contacted.