AN ACT to amend and reenact sections 50-10.2-01, 50-10.2-02, and 50-10.2-02.1 of the North Dakota Century Code, relating to the rights of health care facility residents.
SB2070 updates North Dakota’s long-term care residents’ rights law for facilities such as skilled nursing care facilities, basic care facilities, assisted living facilities, and swing-bed hospitals. The bill revises definitions and reorganizes the residents’ rights section, but its core purpose is to clarify and expand protections for residents in areas such as privacy, communication, grievance procedures, financial transparency, transfer and discharge notice, and freedom from abuse, neglect, and retaliation.
A major focus of the bill is electronic monitoring and remote communication. It distinguishes among authorized electronic monitoring/recording, virtual monitoring, virtual visitation, and general technology devices, and it sets conditions under which residents or their representatives may install and use devices in resident rooms. The bill also addresses consent requirements for roommates, notice to facilities, posting requirements, restrictions on facility access to recordings, and penalties for tampering with devices or intercepting communications. It further clarifies that residents may use phones, tablets, and similar devices for private communication and remote visitation, subject to privacy protections.
The bill amends sections 50-10.2-01, 50-10.2-02, and 50-10.2-02.1 of the North Dakota Century Code, strengthening and modernizing the statutory framework governing resident rights in long-term care settings. It expands and clarifies facility obligations regarding admission disclosures, grievance processes, transfer/discharge notices, resident councils, pharmacy choice, financial accounting, and protections against retaliation, while also updating the law to reflect current technology such as video devices, tablets, and remote monitoring tools. Facilities will need to revise resident-rights statements, staff training, notice procedures, and policies for handling monitoring devices and resident communications; residents and resident representatives gain clearer rights and remedies related to privacy, oversight, and electronic monitoring.
The bill appears to have been broadly supported and noncontroversial. It passed the Senate unanimously, 47-0, and the House overwhelmingly, 92-0, with only two members absent. The lack of recorded opposition or committee transcript concerns suggests general agreement that the measure is a routine but meaningful update to resident-rights protections in health care facilities.
No significant opposition is reflected in the available record. The main policy issues embedded in the bill are the balance between resident privacy and facility operations, especially around electronic monitoring, roommate consent, and access to recordings. The bill also touches on facility burden, transfer/discharge authority, and the scope of resident rights in shared rooms, but the unanimous votes indicate these issues were not contentious in the legislative process.