The Iowa Department of Inspections, Appeals and Licensing oversees nursing homes in the state of Iowa. (Photo via Getty Images; logo courtesy of the State of Iowa)
The state agency that regulates nursing homes is in the process of adopting new rules that lessen the educational and licensing requirements for Iowa’s nursing home administrators.
The Iowa Department of Inspections, Appeals and Licensing has drafted the new rules to conform with legislation approved by state lawmakers in 2024. House File 2013, which was backed by the nursing home industry, extends from one year to two years the length of time a person can act as a nursing home administrator on a provisional basis without meeting the requirements for full licensure.
Under Iowa law, to obtain a provisional nursing home administrator’s license, an individual must be at least 18 years old, pay a $120 fee, have no history of disciplinary action in any licensed profession, and “be knowledgeable” about an administrator’s duties.
According to DIAL, “there are no minimum education or examination requirements to become a provisional administrator” at an Iowa nursing home.
To be a fully licensed nursing home administrator, a person must pass an exam prescribed by the Board of Nursing Home Administrators; have a baccalaureate or post-baccalaureate degree of some kind from an accredited school; and have completed an administrator training program or practicum in long-term health care, or have a year of full-time experience in health care.
House File 2013 was backed by the nursing home industry’s primary lobbyists at the Iowa Health Care Association and the Iowa Council of Health Care Centers. No lobbyists were registered as opposing the bill.
The bill passed the Iowa House on a vote of 97-0, then passed the Senate on a vote of 41-5, before being signed into law by Gov. Kim Reynolds on May 1, 2024.
DIAL says the intent of the new rule is to “allow the nursing home facilities to retain provisional administrators for longer periods of time,” which, the agency says, will “lead to more stability and better outcomes for residents.”
DIAL has also drafted a rule to conform to 2024 legislation that lessens the educational requirements imposed on Iowa nursing home administrators.
Under Iowa law, administrators are required to complete at least 40 hours of continuing education in a two-year period, or biennium. Previously, an administrator who completed more than 40 hours in a biennium would still be required to complete at least 40 hours the following biennium.
Under the new law and rules, an administrator could carry over up to 20 hours of excess continuing-education hours and apply those to the following biennium’s 40-hour requirement.
The net effect is that an administrator could work up to four years with a total 60 hours of continuing education, rather than 80 hours.
People wishing to comment on the new rules are invited by DIAL to send their remarks to Jessica O’Brien at jessica.o’brien@dia.iowa.gov by 4:30 p.m., March 11.