How Oklahoma licenses assisted living

Who licenses assisted living in Tulsa, Oklahoma?

The Oklahoma State Department of Health (OSDH), through the Long Term Care Service in its Protective Health Services division, licenses every assisted living center in the state under the Continuum of Care and Assisted Living Act and the rules in Oklahoma Administrative Code chapter 310:663.

The City of Tulsa, Tulsa County and the suburbs do not license care settings, although building, zoning and fire codes still apply to the buildings. OSDH's roster, retrieved October 31, 2026, lists 45 open assisted living centers in Tulsa, Wagoner, Rogers, Creek, Osage and Okmulgee counties with 3,193 licensed beds; 39 are in Tulsa County and 8 are the assisted living side of a continuum of care campus.

Each license carries an ID (for example, AL followed by four digits, or CC for a continuum of care campus) that OSDH uses on every survey, license and disclosure document in the facility's public file at surveys.health.ok.gov.

What may an Oklahoma assisted living center provide?

An Oklahoma assisted living center may provide personal care, nursing supervision, intermittent or unscheduled nursing care, medication administration, help with transfers and walking, and cognitive orientation and dementia care to two or more residents who need that help by choice or because of functional impairment.

That last part matters: unlike a residential care home, an assisted living center is licensed to deliver some health services on site. What it may not do is keep a resident whose needs exceed its licensed level or its actual capabilities. Each center sets its own admission and discharge criteria, and Oklahoma requires those criteria to be written into the resident's service contract.

When a resident's needs change, the physician, the facility and the resident or representative can agree on accommodations that let the person stay, with the stated goal of the least restrictive setting that preserves privacy and dignity.

Does Oklahoma require a staff-to-resident ratio in assisted living?

No. Oklahoma sets no numeric staffing ratio for assisted living; a center must staff enough to deliver the services promised in each resident's contract, with two specific exceptions written into the rules.

First, any unit or program that restricts residents from leaving must have at least two staff awake and on duty on every shift, with one of them inside the restricted unit at all times. Second, if only one direct care worker is awake overnight, the center must tell you before move-in and must have a Department-approved plan for urgent situations such as falls.

Those two rules make the overnight staffing question the single most useful one to ask on a tour.

Who gives medications in Oklahoma assisted living?

Medications are given by licensed nurses or by unlicensed staff who have completed a Department-approved training program, usually certified medication aides (CMAs).

CMAs who complete advanced training may also check blood glucose, give insulin and administer oral metered-dose inhalers and hand-held nebulizer treatments for residents who meet set criteria. Certified nurse aides work under a registered nurse, and direct care staff must hold first aid and CPR training and be in good standing on the Oklahoma Nurse Aide Registry.

How are residents assessed in Oklahoma assisted living?

Every resident gets an admission assessment on a Department form within 30 days before admission or at admission, a comprehensive assessment within 14 days after moving in, and a new assessment every 12 months or promptly after a significant change in condition.

Ask to see the completed assessment and the service plan built from it. Those documents decide what the center will do for your parent day to day, and they are the reference point if a discharge is ever proposed.

Centers must also run an internal quality assurance committee that meets at least quarterly, including the administrator and a direct care or medication staff member, plus a registered nurse or physician and a consultant pharmacist when medical or medication issues are reviewed.

Who can run an assisted living center in Oklahoma?

Each center designates one administrator who holds an Oklahoma nursing home administrator license, an assisted living and residential care administrator certificate of training, or an approved national assisted living certificate, and who completes 16 hours of continuing education a year.

All staff are subject to national fingerprint-based criminal background checks and registry screening. The OSDH roster lists the administrator of record for every facility; our facility pages reproduce it when the roster includes it.