OAR 411-067-0083: Resident Meetings and Notice of Changes

(1) The governing body or a designated representative of the provider must hold meetings with the residents’ council (Council) or all residents of the CCRC at least twice a year for the purpose of free discussion of subjects that may include but are not limited to facility income, expenditures, financial trends, resident concerns, and proposed changes in policy, programs, fees, and services. (a) The meetings must be open to the designated personal representatives of the residents. (b) The provider must present for discussion any issue the Council or any resident of the CCRC identifies orally or in writing 14 days or more prior to the meeting. Any issue presented for discussion must be of general concern to the CCRC and must be communicated to the individual as set forth by CCRC policy. (c) The CCRC must report the dates of the meetings in the annual disclosure statement. (2) The provider must give residents at least 45 days notice of proposed changes in fees, regular periodic charges, or services. The provider must allow residents a reasonable opportunity to comment on the proposed changes before the changes become effective. (3) At least 30 days before an increase in regular periodic charges takes effect, the provider must hold a meeting with the Council or a meeting that is open to all residents of the CCRC to present the reasons for the proposed increase and any data supporting the need for the increase. A meeting as described in section (1) of this rule may be used for this purpose. (a) At least 14 days prior to the meeting, the provider must post in a conspicuous location and make available to each resident an agenda for the meeting. (b) At the meeting, the provider must make available an accounting of: (A) Actual and projected income and expenses for the CCRC’s current fiscal year; (B) Projected income and expenses for the following fiscal year; and (C) The current rates for each living unit in the CCRC and each proposed rate increase. For this rule, “each living unit” means each type of living unit in contrast to every individual unit within the CCRC. (4) A provider must review the CCRC budget with the Council or a committee appointed by the Council during the budget planning process. (5) At least twice a year, the provider must make available, to the Council or a committee appointed by the Council, a financial statement for the CCRC that compares actual costs to budgeted costs, broken down by expense category. (6) The governing body of a provider must allow at least one resident, from each CCRC operated by the provider in Oregon, to participate as a nonvoting resident representative on the governing body or along with the owners or managers. (a) The resident representative may be excluded from any executive session and from discussion of confidential matters or matters related to litigation, personnel, competitive advantage, or a resident’s personal affairs. (b) The resident representative may not be excluded from discussion of matters relating to the annual budget, increases in regular periodic charges, provider indebtedness, or expansion in new or existing CCRC facilities. (c) The resident representative and the resident representative’s alternate must be elected by a majority vote of the Council of each CCRC or by a majority vote of all residents of the CCRC. The provider may establish the term for the representatives and the procedures for election and replacement of a representative and an alternate. The resident representative is responsible for submitting their name, address, electronic mail address, and telephone number to the provider. (d) A provider must send the notice of the meeting and any written materials relevant to the discussions in which the resident representative may participate under this section, to each resident representative and alternate, at the same time and in the same manner as the governing body, owners, or managers. (e) A provider must pay all reasonable travel expenses for a resident representative or alternate to attend meetings of the governing body and meetings of the governing body’s committees. (7) A provider must maintain and make available to any resident upon request, minutes of the meetings of the provider’s governing body. A provider must retain the minutes for no less than three years from the date the minutes were created. (a) The provider may remove from the minutes, information regarding any matters discussed in executive session or that relate to litigation, personnel, competitive advantage, or a resident’s personal affairs. (b) The provider may not remove from the minutes, information regarding the annual budget, increases in regular periodic charges, provider indebtedness, or expansion in new or existing CCRC facilities. (8) Nothing in this rule prohibits a provider from allowing greater resident participation than the minimum requirements set forth in these rules.