Utah Nursing Homes: Violations, Fines and Worst Records

For nursing home citations finding resident harm or immediate danger, Utah has the third-highest rate among the 50 states and District of Columbia. Nationwide, the average is 1.54 per home. Through its nursing home provider data files, CMS (the federal Medicare agency) makes these inspection records public for each of the 97 facilities statewide. State inspectors cited the federal rule covering supervision and accident hazards more often than any other standard over the last three inspection cycles: 152 times. Of those Utah supervision citations, 65 involved resident harm or immediate danger.

Across Utah homes, the share of nursing staff who left within a year reached 50.7%, the eighth highest rate in the country; the national average is lower at 45.8%. Of the state's facilities, 79 are run by corporate chains, and The Ensign Group leads them with 21 locations in Utah. Federal regulators also added one home in the state to the Special Focus Facility program: Mountain View Health Services. The program covers facilities with a record of serious inspection problems. June 2024 brought the largest single federal fine the state had seen since September 2023. Regulators imposed $153,114 on Red Cliffs Health and Rehab of St George.

State licensing records are open to families through Utah's online licensing search, named DLBC Find a facility. It covers regulated health facilities, with compliance history going back up to 36 months, and notes any state sanction on a facility. All 97 nursing homes in the state also appear on Medicare's Care Compare, a federal search site formerly named Nursing Home Compare. There, families can open a home's federal inspection reports (the statement of deficiencies, Form CMS-2567).

To report poor care, contact the state survey agency: Utah Department of Health and Human Services, Licensing and Background Checks. File a complaint through its online concerns and incidents page or by phone at 1-800-662-4157. Help is also available from the Long Term Care Ombudsman Program, part of the state Division of Aging and Adult Services. Residents and relatives can call 801-538-3910. Adult Protective Services takes direct reports at 1-800-371-7897 when a vulnerable adult in a Utah home is suspected of facing abuse, neglect, or exploitation.