.55 Telephones.
A. An assisted living program with a licensed capacity of one to eight beds shall provide:
(1) At least one landline telephone for common use; and
(2) A posting next to the telephone that contains the telephone numbers for the local police department, fire
department, and relief personnel.
B. An assisted living program with a licensed capacity of nine to 16 beds shall provide at least one common-use
telephone. If there are nine or more residents that do not have private telephones in their own rooms, the assisted living program shall provide a second common-use telephone.
C. An assisted living program with a licensed capacity of 17 or more beds shall provide:
(1) Wiring in each resident’s room that would allow a resident to use the resident’s own private telephone; and
(2) An adequate number of telephone lines and common-use telephones to accommodate those residents who
do not have private telephones installed in their rooms.
Pro Tip:
Believe it or not, this is one issue that often comes up and it relates directly to the dignity of the resident
and being able to communicate with others outside of the facility. This should be a phone in a private
area (not the common living room, or the front desk business phone). So, think about where you can
place a phone that residents can use for private conversations