How to file a complaint about a nursing home
Key takeaways
- If someone is in immediate danger, call 911.
- Most concerns start inside the home: the charge nurse, the director of nursing, the administrator. Residents have the right to complain without retaliation.
- Your state's long-term care ombudsman is a free advocate for residents and works in every state.
- The state survey agency inspects nursing homes and investigates complaints. Call 1-800-MEDICARE to get its number.
If something is wrong with the care in a nursing home, you have more than one place to turn, and you can use more than one at the same time. Most concerns start with a conversation inside the home. Serious concerns can be reported to the state directly.
If a resident is in immediate danger, call 911.
Step 1Tell the home
Start with the person closest to the problem and move up: the nurse in charge of the unit, the director of nursing, then the administrator. Put it in writing if the first conversation does not fix it. Federal rules give residents the right to voice grievances without discrimination or reprisal, and they require the home to make prompt efforts to resolve them. Ask for the home's grievance form and the name of the person who handles grievances.
Step 2Call the long-term care ombudsman
Every state has a Long-Term Care Ombudsman program, created by the federal Older Americans Act. Ombudsmen identify, investigate and work to resolve complaints made by or for residents, and they speak for the resident, not the home. Nationwide, the programs worked on 202,894 complaints in fiscal year 2023 and resolved or partly resolved 71 percent to the satisfaction of the resident or the person who complained, according to the Administration for Community Living.
Find your program through the National Consumer Voice directory, or call the Eldercare Locator at 1-800-677-1116.
Differs by stateLong-term care ombudsman, by state
- Maine
- Maine Long-Term Care Ombudsman Program · 1-800-499-0229
- New Hampshire
- Office of the Long-Term Care Ombudsman · 1-800-442-5640
- Rhode Island
- Office of the Rhode Island State Long Term Care Ombudsman · 1-888-351-0808
- Vermont
- Vermont Long-Term Care Ombudsman Project · 1-800-889-2047 (ext. 3)
Checked against state sources in Oct 2026. Contacts are added here as each state is added to this site.
Step 3File a complaint with the state survey agency
The state survey agency inspects nursing homes for the federal government and investigates complaints. Medicare.gov directs complaints about abuse of a resident, too few staff, and unsafe or unsanitary conditions to this agency. To get the number for your state, call 1-800-MEDICARE, 1-800-633-4227.
Differs by stateWhere to file a complaint, by state
- Maine
- Division of Licensing and Certification · 1-800-383-2441
- New Hampshire
- Health Facilities Administration, Health Facility Certification Unit · 603-271-9049
- Rhode Island
- Rhode Island Department of Health, Complaint Unit · 401-222-5960
- Vermont
- Division of Licensing and Protection, Survey and Certification · 1-888-700-5330
Checked against state sources in Oct 2026. Contacts are added here as each state is added to this site.
What should you write down first?
- What happened, in the order it happened.
- The date, the time and where in the home.
- Who was involved and who saw it.
- Which staff members you told, when, and what they said.
- Photos, if they are relevant and respect other residents' privacy.
- The resident's name and room number, and how to reach you.
What happens after you file?
The agency reviews the complaint and decides how quickly to respond based on how serious it is. An inspector may visit the home without warning, interview residents and staff, and review records. If the inspector finds that the home broke a rule, the home is cited and must correct the problem.
Those citations become part of the public record. On each home's page on this site, a citation that came from a complaint visit is marked "Complaint inspection." See what the severity letters mean.
Who handles other kinds of problems?
- Medicare coverage is ending too soon. Ask for a fast appeal from the reviewer named on the Notice of Medicare Non-Coverage. See what Medicare covers.
- A discharge or transfer notice. You can appeal. See residents' rights and discharge notices.
- A suspected crime, such as assault or theft. Call the police as well as the state agency.