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How do I file a complaint against an assisted living facility in Cleveland with the state?

Complaints about abuse, neglect, or misappropriation in an ODH-licensed facility go to the Ohio Department of Health complaint line at 1-800-342-0553,

Quick answer

Complaints about abuse, neglect, or misappropriation in an ODH-licensed facility go to the Ohio Department of Health complaint line at 1-800-342-0553, with live coverage Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Eastern, and voicemail checked twice daily outside those hours. ODH investigates licensing and care-quality complaints against RCFs and nursing homes; a separate home health hotline (1-800-669-3534) covers home health agency complaints.

HomeQuestionsHow do I file a complaint against an assisted living
Answer

Complaints about abuse, neglect, or misappropriation in an ODH-licensed facility go to the Ohio Department of Health complaint line at 1-800-342-0553, with live coverage Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Eastern, and voicemail checked twice daily outside those hours. ODH investigates licensing and care-quality complaints against RCFs and nursing homes; a separate home health hotline (1-800-669-3534) covers home health agency complaints.

What this means in practice

If something feels wrong inside a licensed facility, a missed medication, an unexplained fall, a pattern of understaffing, the complaint goes to the state regulator, not to a general consumer hotline.

ODH's complaint line takes reports of abuse, neglect, or misappropriation against any ODH-licensed RCF or nursing home, and live staff are reachable weekdays during business hours, with voicemail picked up twice a day otherwise.

A separate number exists specifically for home health agency complaints, so families dealing with in-home care issues rather than facility-based issues should use that line instead. Either way, filing directly with ODH triggers an official licensing review rather than an informal facility response.

Related questions

Questions Cleveland families ask

How do I file a complaint against an assisted living facility in Cleveland with the state?

Complaints about abuse, neglect, or misappropriation in an ODH-licensed facility go to the Ohio Department of Health complaint line at 1-800-342-0553, with live coverage Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Eastern, and voicemail checked twice daily outside those hours. ODH investigates licensing and care-quality complaints against RCFs and nursing homes; a separate home health hotline (1-800-669-3534) covers home health agency complaints.

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