Authority
The County of Los Angeles Department of Public Health,
Health Facilities Inspection Division has the authority
and responsibility for the licensing and certification
of health facilities and ancillary health services,
including:
- Acute care hospitals
- Nursing Homes
- Homes for the developmentally disabled
- Hospice Programs
- Ambulatory surgical centers
- Dialysis clinics
- Primary care clinics
- Home Health Agencies
- Congregated Living Facilities (catastrophic and severely disabled, ventilator dependency, terminal illness)
There is a total of 1,964 health facilities in the Los Angeles County area. The fulfillment of this responsibility requires inspections of health care facilities and providers in order to evaluate compliance. It also requires written reports, which document the division's findings and may serve as the basis for further legal action. The Division also
responds to citizen complaints regarding health facilities or providers.
How L.A. County Health Facilities Inspection Division Helps You
These employees are called "surveyors" or "evaluators." They conduct routine inspections or "surveys" and investigate complaints. They also make follow-up visits to assure that problems which have been identified are corrected.
If problems with care are found, surveyors will notify the nursing home and require the problems to be corrected. Surveyors may also visit a home in response to a specific complaint. Complaint investigations may take from a few hours to several days. You can easily identify state surveyors visiting a home because they will be wearing identification badges clearly marked "Department of Health Services."
Surveyors use many methods to evaluate the quality of care patients/residents are receiving. Surveyors also select several residents to talk with in depth to learn about the care and services residents are receiving in the nursing home. Even if you are not selected to be interviewed either alone or in a group,
you may talk to surveyors at any time if you have information you would like to share with them.
You have the right to know the outcome of surveys and complaint investigations. The nursing home is required to post for public view the result of its most recent survey.
You can also
use the
Internet to see the result of nursing home surveys nationwide.
Complaints
Specific complaints are investigated in all health facilities within the Department's jurisdiction.
"HFID's Mission is to promote the health and safety of all patients by ensuring health facilities remain compliant with state, federal and local regulations, while fostering community relationships through transparency, accountability, and compassion."
County 24 hr. Emergency Number
(213) 974-1234 