The Utah Office of Licensing (OL), under the Division of Licensing and Background Checks (DLBC) is sharing important information regarding recent statute updates from the 2026 General Legislative Session that may impact you as a provider.
Type of facility or program:
Hospitals and Birthing Centers
Overview of Statute Update and Potential Impact
- Effective Monday, May 20, 2026, OL will begin enforcing newly enacted statutory requirements that impact specific licensed facilities or programs within the state. The changes follow the official effective date of the relevant statute, which occurred on Wednesday, May 6, 2026.
- We strongly encourage you to carefully review the statutory language H.B. 51 Adoption Amendments and proactively assess your facility’s current practices in relation to these new requirements, which will address adoption services in health care facilities. Specifically, healthcare facilities must create internal policies for on-site adoption services. Staff are required to notify the OL if they observe unethical adoption practices or file complaints against an agency representative.
Next Steps for OL
- Recognizing that the full implementation of these new requirements will require updates to existing administrative rules and internal operational procedures within OL, a phased approach to assess compliance will be adopted during this interim period.
- Until the new rules and new procedural guidelines are developed, OL will evaluate facility compliance with these recent statutory additions or changes through our current OL inspections and statute language.
Questions or Guidance
Please do not hesitate to contact your assigned licensor directly if you have questions, require clarification on specific aspects of the requirements, or need guidance on how these changes may affect your facility’s operations.
Understanding these changes is crucial for maintaining compliance and ensuring the health and safety of clients. OL is committed to providing the necessary support and resources to facilitate a smooth and effective transition to these new requirements.