Does a long-term care / assisted living / group home in California need a medical director?

Yes. The rule calls the role Medical Director. A physician licensed to practice medicine in California.

🏥 Long-Term Care / Assisted Living / Group Home · California

California: medical director for a long-term care / assisted living / group home

Whether California requires a physician medical director for a long-term care / assisted living / group home, the qualifications, duties and the rule it comes from.

Medical directorMedical director required

Title in the ruleMedical Director

Research date2026-08-14

Qualifications

A physician licensed to practice medicine in California.

Duties the rule assigns

Implementation of resident care policies
Coordination of medical care in the facility

Notes

SECONDARY SOURCE / NOT INDEPENDENTLY VERIFIED THIS PASS: no full-text mirror of 22 CCR (Westlaw/OAL, Cornell LII, regs aggregators) was reachable this session. Relying on widely-cited secondary characterization of 22 CCR § 72501 for skilled nursing facilities — NOT confirmed to extend to RCFEs/assisted living (a distinct, CDSS-regulated license type). Confirm current text before production use.

Sources (1)

Cal. Code Regs. tit. 22, § 72501 (Medical Director, Skilled Nursing Facilities) — citation not independently re-verified this pass, see notes

Every agreement California names · Long-Term Care / Assisted Living / Group Home in other states