Choosing a Facility -- Section One:

Facility Track Record

What is the Facility’s Track Record?

No matter what type of long-term care facility you are looking for, there is information available to help you make an educated choice.  You can obtain: 

1. A copy of the Annual State Survey

2. A Facility’s Complaint History

3. State Enforcement Actions

The Annual Survey Process

Once a year, the Department of Social and Health Services (DSHS) in Washington State does a thorough inspection of every licensed Long-Term Care (LTC) facility.  This inspection is known as the Annual Survey.  To conduct these inspections, a team of state surveyors enter the facility unannounced and spend several days reviewing records, speaking to residents, and making observations. 

After the survey, facilities are required to develop a “plan of correction” to address any deficiencies. 

How to get a copy of the Annual Survey

All LTC facilities are required to make their most recent state survey available to you upon request.  All you need to do is ask the provider to see the most recent survey; you have a right to review it.  You can also ask to see the facility’s latest plan of correction.  (In nursing homes, you may not have to ask to see the latest survey, as a copy is generally maintained in a looseleaf binder in the reception area.)

Copies of surveys can also be obtained directly from the state at 15 cents per page.  Keep in mind that these requests may take several weeks to process.  Forward your requests to:

How to use the Survey

Read the Survey Summary first.  The summary will give you a good idea of how the facility rated in many different areas.  If you would like more detail about a specific area, you can read the corresponding section of the actual survey. 

If you need further information about the survey process or how to interpret the survey, call the district manager identified at the end of the Survey Summary.

Finding Surveys of Nursing Homes

If you are looking for surveys of nursing homes in Washington State by county, city, or zip code, you can go here: 

Surveys of Nursing Homes in Washington State

This website is easy to use and full of useful information. We are not aware of a web site which gives comparable information on boarding homes and adult family homes. 

So that we can help other consumers, if you know of a website that contains that information, please contact us at:

ltcop@fremontpublic.org  

Phone: 206-623-0816 

Check a Facility’s Complaint History

Complaints about Long-Term Care (LTC) facilities can be filed with either the Long- Term Care Ombudsman or directly with the State’s Complaint Resolution Unit.  You can obtain a copy of a facility’s complaint history from either source.

Every LTC facility is required to post a sign in the facility which says the following:  

Complaint Histories--LTC Ombudsman

You can obtain complaint histories from the Long-Term Care Ombudsman by calling your local county Ombudsman office.

Click Here For Names and Phone Numbers of Ombudsmen In Washington State Counties

Complaint Histories--State

When the State completes a complaint investigation, the results of the investigation are documented in an official investigation report.  These investigation reports are available to the public by request.  It is preferable to send your request in writing by letter, fax or email to the Washington State Information Access Manager:   

Sample request:

Dear Sir/Madam:

Please send me copies of investigation reports relating to facility A, facility B and facility C conducted over the last year [or last two years].  

Find Out About State Enforcement Actions

The state issues press releases whenever they take an enforcement action against a nursing home or an adult family home.  Press releases are not issued when the state takes enforcement actions against an assisted living facility.  The most common enforcement actions are monetary fines, bans on admissions and license revocations.  The press release is not issued until all appeals of the enforcement action are exhausted.

To find out if enforcement actions have been taken against a particular nursing home or adult family home, enter the name of the facility in the search engine found at:

The Access Washington News Site

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