Subd. 1. Transfers prohibited.

A nursing home license may not be transferred.

Subd. 2. New license required; change of ownership.

1. (a) The commissioner of health by rule shall prescribe procedures for licensure under this section.

2. (b) A new license is required and the prospective licensee must apply for a license prior to operating a currently licensed nursing home. The licensee must change whenever one of the following events occur:

   1. (1) the form of the licensee's legal entity structure is converted or changed to a different type of legal entity structure;
   2. (2) the licensee dissolves, consolidates, or merges with another legal organization and the licensee's legal organization does not survive;

   3. (3) within the previous 24 months, 50 percent or more of the licensee's ownership interest is transferred, whether by a single transaction or multiple transactions to:

      1. (i) a different person or multiple different persons; or
      2. (ii) a person or multiple persons who had less than a five percent ownership interest in the facility at the time of the first transaction; or
   4. (4) any other event or combination of events that results in a substitution, elimination, or withdrawal of the licensee's responsibility for the facility.

Subd. 3. Compliance.

The commissioner must consult with the commissioner of human services regarding the history of financial and cost reporting compliance of the prospective licensee and prospective licensee's financial operations in any nursing home that the prospective licensee or any controlling person listed in the license application has had an interest in.

Subd. 4. Facility operation.

The current licensee remains responsible for the operation of the nursing home until the nursing home is licensed to the prospective licensee.