Retirement center and pioneer home.

2018
STATE OF WYOMING
18LSO-0129
Numbered
1.3

SENATE FILE

NO.
SF0112

Retirement center and pioneer home.

Sponsored by:
Joint Appropriations Committee

A BILL

for

AN ACT relating to state institutions; amending provisions providing for the establishment of the Wyoming retirement center and the Wyoming pioneer home; providing state facilities background; requiring a determination by the department of health; requiring a report; and providing for an effective date.

Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Wyoming:

Section 1
.

W.S. 9
‑
2
‑
2005(c)(iv)(C) and
(E)
and
25
‑
1
‑
201(a)(vi), (viii) and by creating a new subsection (e) are amended to read:

9
‑
2
‑
2005
.

Department of health created; director appointed; structure.

(c)

The following agencies are assigned to the department of health under a Type 1 transfer:

(iv)

The following state institutions:

(C)

Wyoming pioneer home
, subject to W.S. 25
‑
1
‑
201(e)
;

(E)

Wyoming retirement center
, subject to W.S. 25
‑
1
‑
201(e)
.

25
‑
1
‑
201
.

Establishment of state institutions.

(a)

The following state institutions are established:

(vi)

The Wyoming pioneer home at Thermopolis, Wyoming
,
subject to subsection (e) of this section
;

(viii)

The Wyoming retirement center at Basin, Wyoming
, subject to subsection (e) of this section
;

(e)

Notwithstanding any other provision of law and s
ubject to the approval of the governor
,
u
pon a finding by the department of health

that a
state
institution established under paragraph (a)(vi) or (viii) of this section
no longer serves
as a
necessary means of meeting the objectives of the department of health
,
is
not a necessary part of an integrated system designed to provide required services at institutions operated by the department of health

and that the services provided at
the institution are
otherwise
available or are reasonably expected to be
otherwise
a
vailable in the community served by the institution
:

(i)

Operation of the associated facilities as an established state institution may cease;
and

(
i
i)

T
he

property comprising the institution and any lands acquired by the state for the benefit of the institution shall be subject to disposition, lease or
continued use by the state as provided by law. The proceeds from any sale or lease conducted under this paragraph shall be credited to the general fund unless specifically directed otherwise by state or federal law or a conveyance instrument.

Section 2.

(a)

Recently, the legislature and executive branch of government evaluated the mission and purpose of Wyoming
'
s state

run health care facilities. With assistance from the department of health and the joint legislative and executive task force on department of health facilities, the legislature, in 2015, amended laws related to the state
'
s health care facilities to more clearly establish their mission as a safety net for Wyoming
'
s citizens who are unable to obtain necessary services elsewhere. It is in the state
'
s interest to expend state funding only for the operation of state

run health care facilities that serve the facility
'
s safety net mission and it is not necessary to provide services in a
s
tate run facility that are otherwise available in the community or region.

(b)

The Wyoming retirement center was established in Basin in 1924 as the
"
Wyoming Tuberculosis Sanitarium.
"
It served in that capacity until approximately 1969, when it was repurposed as a state

run nursing home. Today, the facility continues to operate as a nursing home, serving predominantly persons from the Big Horn Basin and a number of individuals with mental illness. Pursuant to the 2015 revisions to Wyoming law referred to in subsection (a) of this section, the Wyoming life resource center in Lander is the safety

net facility responsible for providing services to persons with qualifying mental illness, not the Wyoming retirement center.

(c)

Constructed in Thermopolis in the early 1950s, the Wyoming pioneer home was first conceived in 1946 as the
"
Wyoming Home for the Aged,
"
with the purpose of providing
"
care and maintenance of such residents of this
S
tate who are without means of support or who must have personal care and attention
"
(1946 Wyoming Session Laws, Special Session, Chapter 22). Today rather than serving a statewide population or caring for those who are without other means
of support, the Wyoming pioneer home serves largely as a subsidized assisted living facility generally for residents from Thermopolis and the neighboring counties.

Section
3
.

(a
)

Not later
than November 1, 2018, t
he
department of health
shall
make a determination
,

subject to the approval of the governor,
pursuant to W.S. 25
‑
1
‑
201(e)
.
In making the determination, t
he objectives of the department of health and the department
'
s integrated system of services shall include the objectives and system existing after completion of ongoing construction, renovation and related programmatic changes at the Wyoming state hospital and Wyoming life resource center.

(b)

The department of health shall report
its
determination made pursuant to subsection (a) of this section
to the joint labor
,

health
and social services interim committee and the joint appropriations committee not later than
November 1, 2018
.

Section
4
.

T
his act

is effective immediately upon completion of all acts necessary for a bill to become law as provided by Article 4, Section 8 of the Wyoming Constitution.

(END)

1
SF0112