Emergency plan rules in Minnesota
One licence type researched, regulated by Minnesota Department of Health. Every requirement below carries the rule that imposes it.
Assisted living / residential care
Licensed in Minnesota as Assisted Living Facility, by Minnesota Department of Health.
Minn. Stat. §144G.42 subd. 10 (disaster planning and emergency preparedness); Minn. R. 4659.0100 and 4659.0110
Evacuation drills twice per year per shift, with at least one drill every other month — a minimum of six a year.
Minnesota assisted living facilities must comply with the federal emergency preparedness regulations for long-term care facilities at 42 CFR §483.73, OR SUCCESSOR REQUIREMENTS — regardless of Medicare or Medicaid participation. MDH even publishes an 'Emergency Preparedness: Appendix Z' survey form for assisted living providers. This is the same mechanism as the District of Columbia, and it means the full four core elements attach on state-law authority alone.
Minn. Stat. §144G.42 subd. 10The written emergency disaster plan must contain a plan for evacuation, address the elements of sheltering in place, identify temporary relocation sites, and detail staff assignments. Emergency and disaster training is given to all staff at initial orientation and annually after — and must also be MADE ANNUALLY AVAILABLE TO RESIDENTS, not only to staff.
Minn. Stat. §144G.42 subd. 10; Minn. R. 4659.0100- The 'or successor requirements' wording matters: if CMS amends 42 CFR §483.73, Minnesota's obligation moves with it automatically, with no state rulemaking needed.
Reviewed 2026-07-30
What this page is
The requirements Minnesota places on a facility emergency preparedness plan, taken from the state’s own rules rather than a national template. Where we have confirmed something against primary text it is stated plainly; where we have not, it says so and names what to check. Nothing here is inferred from what other states do.
The part that is the same everywhere
The federal floor does not vary by state. OSHA 29 CFR §1910.38 binds any employer: reporting an emergency, evacuation and exit-route assignments, critical-operations shutdown, accounting for everyone afterwards, rescue and medical duties, and naming who to ask about the plan. That layer, plus the exit-route, alarm and first-aid rules and the fire code’s plan structure, is covered in the main crash course rather than repeated on all fifty state pages.
Write the plan
The Emergency Plan Builder produces the document itself and is driven by this same research, so the two cannot disagree about what Minnesota requires. The Compliance Calendar puts the drills and inspections on dates.