Long-Term Care Ombudsman in Nevada: How to File Nursing Home Complaints

The nursing home is threatening to discharge your parent because Medicaid has not been approved yet. The facility is not providing therapy sessions as agreed in the care plan. The staff is not responding to call lights for 45 minutes at a time. These are not annoyances — they are actionable complaints with a free, dedicated advocate assigned by the state.

What the Ombudsman Program Does

Nevada's State Long-Term Care Ombudsman Program is administered by the Aging and Disability Services Division (ADSD). Ombudsmen are trained advocates — not regulators — who investigate complaints, mediate disputes, and represent the interests of residents in nursing homes, assisted living facilities, and group care homes.

The ombudsman's statutory authority under NRS 449A covers:

• Unsafe or illegal discharges — a facility attempting to transfer or evict a resident without following proper notice procedures
• Quality of care complaints — inadequate staffing, missed medications, untreated pain, hygiene failures
• Rights violations — restricting visitors, withholding mail, failing to honor advance directives
• Billing disputes — charging for services not received, demanding personal financial guarantees from family members
• Retaliation — staff treating a resident differently after a complaint is filed

How to File a Complaint

By phone:

• Statewide Ombudsman line: 702-486-3545 (Southern Nevada office)
• Toll-free statewide: Contact through Nevada Care Connection ADRC

In person: Ombudsmen visit facilities regularly. If you see an ombudsman poster in the hallway with a name and phone number, call that person directly — they are already assigned to the facility.

What to include:

• The facility name and the resident's name (with their consent or the consent of their legal representative)
• A specific description of the problem — what happened, when, how often, who was involved
• Any documentation: photographs, medical records, billing statements, written notices
• The outcome you are seeking — resolution of the care issue, reversal of a discharge decision, a billing adjustment

The ombudsman will investigate by visiting the facility, reviewing records, and speaking with staff. Their findings are confidential and shared only with the resident or their authorized representative.

When the Ombudsman Steps In vs. HCQC

The ombudsman handles advocacy and mediation. For serious regulatory violations — abuse, neglect, exploitation, or life-threatening conditions — the appropriate agency is the Nevada Bureau of Health Care Quality and Compliance (HCQC) at 1-888-333-1597. HCQC conducts formal inspections and can impose sanctions, fines, or revoke facility licenses.

In practice, ombudsmen and HCQC work in parallel. An ombudsman who uncovers evidence of abuse or neglect during a complaint investigation will refer the matter to HCQC and law enforcement. You do not need to decide which agency is appropriate — contact either one and they will route the complaint correctly.

Discharge and Eviction Disputes

Nursing home discharge disputes are the ombudsman's bread and butter. A facility must provide a 30-day written notice before any involuntary discharge or transfer. The notice must include:

• The reason for discharge (one of six federally permitted reasons)
• The location the resident will be transferred to
• The resident's right to appeal
• Contact information for the ombudsman

If the facility skips this process — or if the stated reason does not match reality — the ombudsman can intervene to halt the transfer and ensure due process. Common scenarios:

• Medicaid pending discharge: The facility claims non-payment, but a Medicaid application is actively pending — federal regulations prohibit eviction during pending status
• Behavioral discharge: The facility claims the resident is a danger to others, but has not attempted less restrictive interventions or documented the behavior adequately
• Bed-hold return: The resident was hospitalized temporarily, returned within the bed-hold period, but the facility gave away their bed

What the Ombudsman Cannot Do

Ombudsmen are advocates, not enforcers. They cannot:

• Order a facility to change its practices (they can recommend and escalate)
• Override a physician's medical decisions
• Provide legal representation in court proceedings
• Investigate complaints about hospitals (that is the QIO's role — contact Commence Health at 877-588-1123)

For facility-level complaints in Nevada nursing homes and assisted living, the ombudsman is the first call. For hospital discharge disputes, the QIO process is the right channel.

A full directory of Nevada ombudsman contacts, complaint filing templates, and patient rights references is included in the Hospital-to-Home Nevada Toolkit.

See more Nevada guides →