Florida is known as the senior housing capital, and many providers take advantage of this by investing in one of the most vulnerable individuals in our population— senior citizens. These providers can open an Assisted Living Facility of any size, provided that they have zoning approval. Facilities that have less than 30 beds are often called mom-and-pop providers and can usually operate within residential neighborhoods.
The AHCA will provide you with the requirements that you need to accomplish in order to apply to operate an Assisted Living Facility (ALF). One of the requirements stipulates that each ALF needs an administrator to manage the day-to-day operations. They are required to have 26 hours of CORE training and pass the state exam with a minimum of 75 percent passing grade.
INITIAL LICENSE
Obtaining the zoning from your local municipality or county is the most important step in getting a license to operate an ALF. Your location shouldn’t be at least within 1,000 feet of another ALF, a similar facility, or any type of group home community property. Subsequently, you’ll need to fulfill health, fire safety, and other related requirements. When all requirements are completed, you can then submit the application.
RENEWAL
You need to submit your licensure application, renewal fee, and other supporting documents to the agency 60 days before the expiration date.
Change of Ownership
Under Florida Statutes, Chapter 408.803 states that a “Change of Ownership” is an event in which 51 percent or more of ownership, membership, shares, or controlling interest of any licensee is in any manner transferred or otherwise assigned. This does not apply if the licensee has been traded on a known stock exchange. Additionally, a change in the management company or board of directors is not considered a change of ownership.
You need to submit the licensure application, fee, and other supporting documents to the agency 60 days before the change of ownership. Any fees owed to the State (owed by either party) must be settled and a bill of sale or other closing document signed by the buyer and the seller and display the effective date of the transfer must be received by the Agency before the application can be approved.