(a) A facility that is not staffed and open for more than five calendar days shall inform the Texas Health and Human Services Commission (HHSC), and HHSC will change the status of the facility license to inactive.
  (1) To be eligible for inactive status, a facility must be in good standing with no pending enforcement action or investigation.
  (2) The licensee is responsible for any license renewal requirements or fees, and for proper maintenance of patient records, while the license is inactive.
  (3) A license may not remain inactive for more than 60 calendar days.
  (4) To reactivate the license, the facility must inform HHSC no later than 60 calendar days after the facility stopped providing services under its license.
  (5) A facility that does not reactivate its license by the 60th calendar day after it stopped providing services has constructively surrendered its license, and HHSC will consider the facility closed.
(b) A facility shall notify HHSC in writing before closure of the facility.
  (1) The facility shall dispose of medical records in accordance with §509.54 of this chapter (relating to Medical Records).
  (2) The facility shall appropriately discharge or transfer all patients before the facility closes.
  (3) A license becomes invalid when a facility closes. The facility shall return the licensure certificate to HHSC not later than 30 calendar days after the facility closes.
(c) A facility that closes, or for which a license issued under this chapter expires or is suspended or revoked, shall immediately remove or cause to be removed any signs within view of the general public indicating that the facility is in operation as required under Texas Health and Safety Code §254.158 (relating to Removal of Signs).

Source Note: The provisions of this §509.26 adopted to be effective December 4, 2023, 48 TexReg 7064