How to Report Nursing Home Abuse: Who to Call

To report nursing home abuse, contact your State Survey Agency. When there is an emergency, call 911 for immediate help.

If nobody's life is in danger, the U.S. Department of Justice points to two national helplines. One is the National Elder Fraud Hotline at 1-833-FRAUD-11. The other is the Eldercare Locator.

Medicare's line, 1-800-MEDICARE, can give you contact information for your State Survey Agency. You can reach it around the clock, every day of the week, aside from a few federal holidays. If you use a TTY, there is a separate number to call.

The State Survey Agency is the office in your state that checks on nursing homes and similar health care facilities. It looks into complaints as well, to confirm that health and safety standards are being met. According to Medicare, this agency is the right place to bring concerns about nursing home care or conditions. Most of the time it sits inside the state health department.

Things that deserve a report include:

• abuse of a resident
• staffing levels that are too low
• unsafe or unclean conditions
• any other kind of mistreatment

This agency oversees homes that participate in Medicare or Medicaid. It also partners with the federal government so that homes getting federal funds stick to federal rules.

You may hear a complaint called a grievance. A relative or friend helping with one can be designated to act on the resident's behalf.

An ombudsman acts as an advocate and helps protect residents' rights, dignity, and safety. This program handles concerns touching on residents' health, safety, welfare, and rights. Under federal law, it must identify, investigate, and resolve complaints, whether residents raise them or someone speaks up for them.

Each state runs an ombudsman program under a full-time State Ombudsman. Programs also operate in Washington, D.C., Puerto Rico, and Guam. Staff plus thousands of volunteers stop by homes on a regular basis, which helps residents open up about what worries them.

These programs can also represent residents in front of government agencies, and they can pursue legal and other remedies to keep residents safe. You can locate a nearby program through Consumer Voice.

Among the complaints these programs handled, physical abuse ranked as the third most common nursing home complaint.

You can report suspected elder abuse to Adult Protective Services. Contact information for every U.S. state and territory is available from the National Adult Protective Services Association.

Federal rules say the home itself must report alleged violations. Those reports go to the home's administrator, to the State Survey Agency, and to Adult Protective Services. When staff suspect a crime against a resident, they have to notify local police as well.

Every claim has to be investigated thoroughly, with evidence kept to show the work was done. Residents must be shielded from more harm while the investigation continues. When a claim turns out to be true, the home has to correct the problem, and staff who report cannot be punished for it.

Homes do not always follow these rules. Current federal records show the rule about timely reporting of suspected abuse drew 8,832 citations across 5,819 homes. The rule requiring that residents be protected from abuse drew 8,701 citations at 5,088 homes, based on CMS inspection data.