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Florida Statute 400.021 - Full Text and Legal Analysis
Florida Statute 400.021 | Lawyer Caselaw & Research
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The 2025 Florida Statutes

Title XXIX
PUBLIC HEALTH
Chapter 400
NURSING HOMES AND RELATED HEALTH CARE FACILITIES
View Entire Chapter
400.021 Definitions.When used in this part, unless the context otherwise requires, the term:
(1) “Administrator” means the licensed individual who has the general administrative charge of a facility.
(2) “Agency” means the Agency for Health Care Administration, which is the licensing agency under this part.
(3) “Bed reservation policy” means the number of consecutive days and the number of days per year that a resident may leave the nursing home facility for overnight therapeutic visits with family or friends or for hospitalization for an acute condition before the licensee may discharge the resident due to his or her absence from the facility.
(4) “Board” means the Board of Nursing Home Administrators.
(5) “Custodial service” means care for a person which entails observation of diet and sleeping habits and maintenance of a watchfulness over the general health, safety, and well-being of the aged or infirm.
(6) “Department” means the Department of Children and Families.
(7) “Facility” means any institution, building, residence, private home, or other place, whether operated for profit or not, including a place operated by a county or municipality, which undertakes through its ownership or management to provide for a period exceeding 24-hour nursing care, personal care, or custodial care for three or more persons not related to the owner or manager by blood or marriage, who by reason of illness, physical infirmity, or advanced age require such services, but does not include any place providing care and treatment primarily for the acutely ill. A facility offering services for fewer than three persons is within the meaning of this definition if it holds itself out to the public to be an establishment which regularly provides such services.
(8) “Geriatric outpatient clinic” means a site for providing outpatient health care to persons 60 years of age or older, which is staffed by a registered nurse, a physician assistant, or a licensed practical nurse under the direct supervision of a registered nurse, advanced practice registered nurse, physician assistant, or physician.
(9) “Geriatric patient” means any patient who is 60 years of age or older.
(10) “Local ombudsman council” means a local long-term care ombudsman council established pursuant to s. 400.0069, located within the Older Americans Act planning and service areas.
(11) “Nursing home bed” means an accommodation which is ready for immediate occupancy, or is capable of being made ready for occupancy within 48 hours, excluding provision of staffing; and which conforms to minimum space requirements, including the availability of appropriate equipment and furnishings within the 48 hours, as specified by rule of the agency, for the provision of services specified in this part to a single resident.
(12) “Nursing home facility” means any facility which provides nursing services as defined in part I of chapter 464 and which is licensed according to this part.
(13) “Nursing service” means such services or acts as may be rendered, directly or indirectly, to and in behalf of a person by individuals as defined in s. 464.003.
(14) “Office” has the same meaning as in s. 400.0060.
(15) “Planning and service area” means the geographic area in which the Older Americans Act programs are administered and services are delivered by the Department of Elderly Affairs.
(16) “Representative of the State Long-Term Care Ombudsman Program” has the same meaning as in s. 400.0060.
(17) “Respite care” means admission to a nursing home for the purpose of providing a short period of rest or relief or emergency alternative care for the primary caregiver of an individual receiving care at home who, without home-based care, would otherwise require institutional care.
(18) “Resident care plan” means a written comprehensive person-centered care plan developed in accordance with 42 C.F.R. s. 483.21(b) by an interdisciplinary team within 7 days after completion of a comprehensive assessment and with participation by the resident or the resident’s designee. The resident care plan must be reviewed and revised after each comprehensive assessment which may be a new admission assessment, an annual assessment, or an assessment after a significant change in status and after a quarterly review assessment. A resident care plan includes measurable objectives and timeframes to meet the resident’s medical, nursing, mental, and psychosocial needs and preferences and must describe the services to be furnished to attain or maintain the resident’s highest practicable physical, mental, and psychosocial well-being.
(19) “Resident designee” means a person, other than the owner, administrator, or employee of the facility, designated in writing by a resident or a resident’s guardian, if the resident is adjudicated incompetent, to be the resident’s representative for a specific, limited purpose.
(20) “State Long-Term Care Ombudsman Program” has the same meaning as in s. 400.0060.
(21) “Therapeutic spa services” means bathing, nail, and hair care services and other similar services related to personal hygiene.
History.s. 2, ch. 69-309; ss. 19, 35, ch. 69-106; s. 2, ch. 70-361; s. 1, ch. 70-439; ss. 21, 25, ch. 75-233; s. 3, ch. 76-168; s. 234, ch. 77-147; s. 1, ch. 77-457; ss. 1, 18, ch. 80-186; ss. 1, 12, ch. 80-198; s. 249, ch. 81-259; ss. 2, 3, ch. 81-318; ss. 4, 79, 83, ch. 83-181; s. 1, ch. 90-330; ss. 20, 30, ch. 93-177; ss. 2, 49, ch. 93-217; s. 763, ch. 95-148; s. 117, ch. 99-8; s. 94, ch. 2000-318; s. 136, ch. 2000-349; s. 1, ch. 2000-350; s. 56, ch. 2000-367; s. 2, ch. 2001-45; s. 3, ch. 2004-298; s. 55, ch. 2007-230; s. 4, ch. 2012-160; s. 122, ch. 2014-19; s. 20, ch. 2015-31; s. 29, ch. 2018-106; s. 1, ch. 2022-61.

F.S. 400.021 on Google Scholar

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Amendments to 400.021


Annotations, Discussions, Cases:

Cases Citing Statute 400.021

Total Results: 7  |  Sort by: Relevance  |  Newest First

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Dept. of Hlt. & Rehabilitative Serv. v. Fla Psychiatric Soc'y, Inc., 382 So. 2d 1280 (Fla. 1st DCA 1980).

Cited 14 times | Published | Florida 1st District Court of Appeal

...hat authority by statute. We agree that such authority cannot be found in the general rule-making provisions of Chapter 381, Florida Statutes. The hearing officer found no authority for the new facilities in Chapter 400, Florida Statutes, nor do we. Section 400.021(4) provides that facilities authorized under that Chapter (nursing homes and related health care facilities), "shall not include any place providing care and treatment primarily for the acutely ill " (emphasis supplied)....
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Manor Care of Dunedin, Inc. v. Keiser, 611 So. 2d 1305 (Fla. 2d DCA 1992).

Cited 11 times | Published | Florida 2nd District Court of Appeal | 1992 WL 386387

...Noticeably absent is Chapter 400, dealing with "nursing homes and related health care facilities." However, nursing home residents' medical records are also afforded privileged status by § 400.022(1)(h), Fla. Stat. (1991). This, plus the definition of "nursing home facility" in § 400.021(10) as "any facility which provides nursing services as defined in chapter 464" — one of the chapters specifically mentioned in subsection (1) — leads us to conclude that nursing homes are statutorily bound to respect the privilege afforded by section 455.241....
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Pediatric Pavilion v. AGEN. FOR HEALTH CARE, 883 So. 2d 927 (Fla. 5th DCA 2004).

Cited 3 times | Published | Florida 5th District Court of Appeal | 2004 Fla. App. LEXIS 15119, 2004 WL 2308871

...care and treatment primarily for the acutely ill. A facility offering services for fewer than three persons is within the meaning of this definition if it holds itself out to the public to be an establishment which regularly provides such services. § 400.021(8), Fla....
...It covers a situation where, through its ownership or management, it "provides for" care. This statutory language is broad enough to encompass those situations in which the management or ownership "provides for" care *930 by contracting with an outside nursing service. See also § 400.021(13), Fla. Stat. (2002) ("Nursing home facility" means "any facility which provides nursing services as defined in part I of chapter 464 and which is licensed according to this part." Emphasis added); § 400.021(14), Fla....
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Beverly Enter.-Florida, Inc. v. McVey, 739 So. 2d 646 (Fla. 2d DCA 1999).

Cited 3 times | Published | Florida 2nd District Court of Appeal | 1999 WL 586987

...sing home's] resident care plan." § 400.022(1)( l ), Fla. Stat. (1993). Since nursing homes, themselves, prepare such plans, they surely have notice of the requirements of these plans. Further, chapter 400 specifically defines "resident care plan." § 400.021(15), Fla....
...ces, if available; planned recreational activities; and therapeutic and rehabilitative services consistent with the resident care plan, with established and recognized practice standards within the community, and with rules as adopted by the agency. Section 400.021(2) defines "agency" as the Agency for Health Care Administration....
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Magnolias Nursing & Convalescent Ctr. v. Dep't of Health & Rehabilitative Servs., Off. of Licensure & Certification, 438 So. 2d 421 (Fla. Dist. Ct. App. 1983).

Published | District Court of Appeal of Florida | 1983 Fla. App. LEXIS 21637

...Section 400.041 further distinguishes nursing homes from other facilities by providing for the licensing of nursing homes in a separate category, apart from the licenses for other health-related facilities. The term “administrator” is also distinguished from the terms “manager” and “supervisor,” by Section 400.021(2) defining “administrator” as “the licensed individual who has the general administrative charge of a facility,” and (3) which provides that “manager” or “supervisor” means “the individual in charge of homes for aged, homes for special services, and related health care facility homes.” *425 Chapter 468, Part V, provides specifically for the licensing of nursing home administrators. Section 468.1645 reiterates the requirements of Section 400.021(2), above quoted, by prohibiting the operation of a nursing home “unless it is under the management of a currently valid licensed administrator or holder of a provisional license.” Finally, Section 468.1635, which sets forth the l...
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Kendall v. Genworth Life Ins. Co., 193 F. Supp. 3d 1290 (M.D. Fla. 2016).

Published | District Court, M.D. Florida | 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 103410, 2016 WL 4203852

...*1293 Moreover, Florida law distinguishes between assisted living facilities and nursing homes. 3 A nursing home is defined as: “[A]ny facility which provides nursing services as defined in part I of chapter 464 and which is licensed according to this part.” 4 Fla. Stat. 400.021(12)....
...Administration as a standard assisted living facility. (See Dkt. 2 ¶ 10). . "Nursing service” means such services or acts as may be rendered, directly or indirectly, to and in behalf of a person by individuals as defined in s. 464.003. Fla. Stat. § 400.021 (13)....
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Brevard Achievement v. Camp, 254 So. 3d 1135 (Fla. 5th DCA 2018).

Published | Florida 5th District Court of Appeal

...This was error because Petitioner's facility does not fall under the purview of chapter 400, and the degree of negligence required to support a claim for punitive damages, in the context of abuse of the developmentally disabled, is far greater than standard negligence. See § 400.021(7), Fla....

This Florida statute resource is curated by Graham W. Syfert, Esq., a Jacksonville, Florida personal injury and workers' compensation attorney. Attorney Syfert regularly works with Chapter 400 in the context of nursing home negligence and represents clients throughout Northeast Florida. For legal consultation, call 904-383-7448.