To report a nursing home in Pennsylvania, call the Department of Health’s complaint hotline at 1-800-254-5164 or submit a complaint through the state’s online form. You can request confidentiality so the facility never learns who filed the complaint. The specific path you take depends on what’s happening: quality-of-care concerns go to the Department of Health, quality-of-life issues can go to the Ombudsman program, and suspected abuse or serious injury should also be reported to law enforcement.
Filing a Complaint With the Department of Health
The Pennsylvania Department of Health is the primary agency that oversees nursing homes in the state. When you call 1-800-254-5164, you’ll speak directly with a Department of Health professional who can take your complaint over the phone. This is the fastest option if the situation feels urgent.
You can also file online at apps.health.pa.gov/dohforms/FacilityComplaint.aspx. The form asks for your contact information, your relationship to the resident (spouse, child, sibling, or other), and details about the incident. You’ll need to provide the resident’s name and date of birth, the facility’s name and address, and the date the incident occurred. The most important field is the written description of your concern, where the form instructs you to be as specific as possible.
One important note: if your concern involves a personal care home or assisted living facility rather than a skilled nursing home, that falls under a different agency. Call 877-401-8835 instead.
What Information to Have Ready
Whether you call or file online, your complaint will be stronger with specific details. Before you reach out, gather as much of the following as you can:
- Resident’s full name and date of birth
- Facility name and full address
- Date of the incident or the timeframe over which the problem has been occurring
- A detailed description of what you witnessed, what the resident told you, or what changed about their condition
- Names of staff involved, if you know them
- Whether you’ve already raised the issue with the facility’s administrator, director of nursing, or other staff
You don’t need all of this to file. The only required fields on the online form are the facility’s name, address, city, state, zip code, and the description of your concern. But the more detail you provide, the easier it is for investigators to act.
Requesting Confidentiality
The online complaint form includes a checkbox labeled “Confidentiality Requested.” Selecting this means the Department of Health can contact you about the outcome of the investigation, but the nursing home will not be told who filed the complaint. This is a critical option for family members who worry about how the facility might treat their loved one after a complaint. Pennsylvania law explicitly prohibits nursing homes from retaliating against residents or anyone who reports concerns. Retaliation includes transferring or discharging a resident from the facility. Residents must be informed of this protection upon admission.
Contacting the Long-Term Care Ombudsman
Not every problem requires a formal state investigation. If the issue involves quality of life rather than immediate safety, Pennsylvania’s Long-Term Care Ombudsman Program can help resolve it directly with the facility. Ombudsmen are advocates for nursing home residents, and they handle a wide range of complaints: unexpected discharge or eviction notices, lost or stolen personal property, dietary concerns, slow responses to calls for help, problems with medications, staffing shortages, and disagreements over facility policies.
To reach the Ombudsman program, call 717-783-8975 or email [email protected]. The state office will connect you with your local ombudsman, who can visit the facility, talk to staff, and work toward a resolution on the resident’s behalf. This route is especially useful when the problem is ongoing but not dangerous, like consistently cold meals, unanswered call lights, or restrictions on visiting hours.
When to Also Contact Law Enforcement
Some situations go beyond a regulatory complaint. Under Pennsylvania’s Older Adults Protective Services Act, anyone who suspects a nursing home resident is the victim of sexual abuse, serious physical injury, or serious bodily injury is expected to report that to law enforcement immediately, not just to the Department of Health. If a death seems suspicious, that also warrants a call to local police. You can and should still file with the Department of Health in these cases, but don’t wait for the state process when someone may be in immediate danger. Call 911 or your local police department first.
Any person who has reasonable cause to believe an older adult needs protective services can also report to their local Area Agency on Aging, which serves as the provider of protective services in each county.
Checking a Facility’s Inspection History
If you want to see whether a nursing home has a pattern of problems, the Department of Health publishes inspection survey results online at apps.health.pa.gov/SurveysPosted. These reports are organized by month and year and include deficiency citations from state inspections. Reviewing past surveys can give you context for your own concerns and help you document whether the issue you’ve noticed is part of a recurring pattern. This information is public and free to access.
What Happens After You File
Once the Department of Health receives your complaint, staff will assess its severity and determine how quickly an investigation needs to happen. For allegations of immediate jeopardy to a resident’s health or safety, inspectors can show up at the facility unannounced within days. Less urgent complaints are typically investigated during the next scheduled survey cycle or through a targeted visit. The department may contact you for additional information, particularly if you requested confidentiality and provided your phone number or email. You won’t necessarily receive a detailed report of the investigation’s findings, but you may be notified of the outcome.
Filing a complaint does not guarantee the facility will be cited or penalized. But every complaint creates a record, and patterns of complaints trigger closer scrutiny. Even if your individual report doesn’t result in an immediate citation, it contributes to the regulatory picture of that facility and can influence future enforcement actions.