Admission, discharge and notice rules for New Mexico assisted living

Last verified: October 2026

Who can a New Mexico assisted living facility not admit or keep?

A New Mexico assisted living facility may not admit or keep anyone who needs 24-hour continuous nursing care. The rule's examples are ventilator dependency, stage III or IV pressure sores, IV therapy or non-routine injections, physical or chemical restraints, nasogastric tubes, tracheostomy care, conditions needing isolation, needing a mechanical lift, an ostomy the resident cannot manage, and posing an imminent danger to self or others.

Residents who have elected the hospice benefit are the exception: they can be admitted or stay even with conditions that would otherwise call for continuous nursing. A resident whose condition has declined so that the primary care practitioner decides the placement is no longer appropriate can also be required to move.

Sources: 8.370.14 NMAC (HCA health facility regulations).

Can a resident stay in New Mexico assisted living after their needs increase?

Sometimes. If a resident needs more care than the facility normally provides and both sides want them to stay, a team made up of the administrator, the resident or their surrogate decision maker and the hospice or home health clinician can approve it in writing, based on an individual service plan that says exactly how the needs will be met.

The written approval must also consider the effect on staff and other residents, and in a facility licensed for more than eight residents without full sprinkler coverage the facility must keep a “prompt” evacuation score. The family or facility can ask for an independent advocate, such as a certified ombudsman, to join the team.

How much notice must a New Mexico assisted living facility give before discharge?

The admission agreement can be terminated with 15 days' written notice to the resident or their surrogate decision maker; termination without prior notice is allowed only in an emergency, when a move is needed for the resident's safety, the facility cannot safely meet their needs, or other residents' and staff's health and safety are endangered.

Grounds for a planned termination include an appropriate placement being found, nonpayment under the admission agreement, the facility closing or no longer being able to provide services, and the resident's health improving so they no longer need the facility. When a resident is discharged the facility must record where they went and which medications went with them.

How much notice is required before a New Mexico assisted living rate increase?

Thirty days. The facility must give residents 30 days' written notice of any change in cost or in the material services it provides, and a new or amended admission agreement has to be signed whenever services, costs or other material terms change.

That makes the admission agreement the document to read twice. It must state the cost of services and how they are paid, the refund provision on death, transfer or discharge, the facility's staffing ratio, its bed hold policy and residents' legal rights, translated if necessary, plus written authorization for staff to help with medications.

What does a New Mexico assisted living admission agreement have to include?

Under 8.370.14.20 NMAC the agreement must name the parties and include the facility's program narrative and rules, the cost of services and payment method, the refund provision, information on advance directives, residents' rights, the staffing ratio, medication-assistance authorization, incident-reporting rights, the bed hold policy and the termination terms.

A facility that calls any of its services “specialized” must also show prospective residents evidence of the staff's specialty training, which is a fair question to ask of any community advertising memory care or diabetes care.

New Mexico notice rules: what they do and do not require