When a parent or spouse needs a nursing home, families face a decision with very little information and very little time. Which homes are well staffed? Which have a history of falls, bedsores or abuse citations? What rights does a resident keep after admission, and what do you do when something goes wrong? The answers exist, but they are scattered across federal databases, State Department of Health records and inspection reports written in regulatory shorthand.
The New York Nursing Home Resource Center, at rightsforvictims.com, brings that information together in one free, plain-English site. Our firm sponsors the Resource Center because, after years of representing nursing home residents and their families, we have seen how often a problem could have been caught earlier if the family had known what to look for. This article walks through what the site offers and how families can use it.
A directory of every certified nursing home in New York
The heart of the site is a searchable directory of all 593 Medicare- and Medicaid-certified nursing homes in New York. You can search by facility name, city or county, or browse county by county, from Nassau and Suffolk to Erie and Monroe.
Each facility has its own page drawing on public data from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services and the New York State Department of Health. Depending on what the government reports, a facility page shows:
Address, phone number, certified beds and average daily census
Medicare’s overall star rating and the three ratings behind it: health inspections, staffing and quality measures
Nurse staffing hours per resident per day, RN hours, and staff turnover
The inspection history, with the number of citations, how serious they were, and links to the official inspection reports
Federal fines and denials of payment
Complaints to the State Department of Health, compared with the statewide average
Ownership type, chain affiliation, and the owners and managers reported to Medicare
Every page also includes a short plain-English summary, so a family member can understand in a few sentences how a home compares with others in its county.
Choosing a New York Nursing Home: six free regional guides
The newest resource on the site is Choosing a New York Nursing Home, a free printable guide published in six regional editions. Each edition explains how to research, visit and compare nursing homes, then profiles every home in the region, county by county.
Edition | Nursing homes profiled | Regional overview |
Long Island (Nassau, Suffolk) | 77 | |
New York City (all five boroughs) | 166 | |
Hudson Valley | 92 | |
Capital Region, Mohawk Valley and North Country | 87 | |
Central New York and Southern Tier | 59 | |
Western New York and Finger Lakes | 112 |
Each edition covers:
Whether a nursing home is the right level of care, and how much time a family really has when a hospital discharge is coming
Who pays, including Medicare’s rehab benefit and New York Medicaid
How to read star ratings, inspection reports and staffing data, and why New York’s 3.5-hour minimum staffing requirement matters
What to look for on a visit, about 50 questions to ask the facility, and the red flags that should make a family keep looking
What to watch for in the admission agreement, including arbitration clauses and payment guarantees
A visit checklist, a side-by-side comparison worksheet and a pocket question list
Each region also has a short online overview with county-by-county numbers and the issues that matter most there, such as staff turnover upstate or travel times between Nassau and Suffolk.
The Family Guide to New York Nursing Homes
Once a loved one is admitted, the questions change. The Family Guide to New York Nursing Homes answers the ones families ask most, in 37 short chapters and a free printable booklet:
Getting started: the first 30 days, the admission agreement, and health care proxies, MOLST forms and DNR orders
Who’s who in the nursing home: what CNAs, nurses, the director of nursing, the administrator and the social worker each do, and how many staff a New York home must have
The care plan and the chart: care plan meetings, the MDS assessment, medication and treatment records, and the Braden Scale for bedsore risk
Safety, rights and common problems: falls, weight loss, restraints, bed rails, antipsychotic drugs, visiting rules and discharge notices
Tools: a step-by-step plan for when something goes wrong, an every-visit checklist, and an incident and conversation log
We recommend that every family with a loved one in a nursing home read it, ideally in the first weeks after admission.
How to file a complaint
The complaint guide lays out, step by step, what to do when a family suspects neglect or abuse: make sure the resident is safe, document what you see, report to the New York State Department of Health (hotline 1-888-201-4563), contact the Long Term Care Ombudsman (1-855-582-6769), and get legal advice when there has been serious harm.
Residents’ rights in plain English
Moving into a nursing home does not take away a person’s rights. The residents’ rights page summarizes the protections in federal regulations (42 C.F.R. § 483.10) and New York regulations (10 NYCRR § 415.3), including the rights to dignity and self-determination, to take part in care planning, to be free from abuse, neglect and unnecessary restraints, to privacy, and to protection from improper discharge. It also explains Public Health Law § 2801-d, which allows residents to sue when those rights are violated and they are injured.
A free kit for getting the medical records
The resident’s chart is often the best evidence of what happened. The records request kit explains who is legally entitled to request a nursing home resident’s records in New York, what to attach, how quickly the facility must respond and what it may charge. It includes a request letter generator and, when a resident has died and no executor has been appointed, guidance on the Affidavit of Distributee.
The Family Guide to Surrogate’s Court
When a nursing home resident dies, the family often needs to open an estate before it can request records or bring a wrongful death claim. The Family Guide to Surrogate’s Court is a free 26-page guide to probate and administration in New York: who inherits, filing fees, and why the wrongful death deadline may already be running.
Profits Up, Care Down
For readers who want to understand why care falls short, our firm’s investigation Profits Up, Care Down explains how some New York nursing home owners move public money out of their facilities through related-party rent, affiliated insurers and other arrangements, and proposes three laws that would stop it.
How families can use the Resource Center
Before choosing a home, download the regional edition of Choosing a New York Nursing Home and look up each home on your short list in the directory.
In the first weeks after admission, read the Family Guide and attend the first care plan meeting prepared.
When something seems wrong, follow the step-by-step plan in the Family Guide and the complaint guide, and keep a written log.
After a serious injury or death, use the records request kit and, if needed, the Surrogate’s Court guide, and talk to a lawyer early. Deadlines can be short, and evidence such as video and staffing records can be overwritten.
When to call a nursing home lawyer
The Resource Center is built to help families protect their loved ones without a lawyer whenever possible. But some situations call for legal advice: a fall that causes a fracture or head injury, a stage 3 or 4 pressure injury, an infection that turns septic, significant weight loss or dehydration, a medication error, abuse, or an unexpected death. In those cases, the facility’s records, staffing data and inspection history can show whether the harm was preventable.
Leitner Warywoda PLLC represents nursing home residents and their families across New York City, Long Island and New York State. If you are concerned about what happened to someone you love, contact us for a free, confidential review or call (631) 240-4390.
Frequently asked questions
Is the Resource Center free to use?
Yes. The directory, the guides and the records kit are free, with no sign-up required.
Where does the nursing home information come from?
From public data published by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services and the New York State Department of Health. Government data changes often, so families should confirm important details on Medicare’s Care Compare website and with the facility.
Does the Resource Center recommend specific nursing homes?
No. It presents the public record for every certified home and explains how to read it. Inclusion is not an endorsement or a criticism.
Who runs the site?
The New York Nursing Home Resource Center is sponsored by Leitner Warywoda PLLC. The information is general and educational; using the site does not create an attorney-client relationship.
What should I do if I think a resident is in danger right now?
Call 911 for an emergency, a serious injury or a suspected crime. Then report the concern to the New York State Department of Health at 1-888-201-4563 and tell the facility’s administrator and director of nursing in writing.
Attorney Advertising. This article provides general information and is not legal advice. Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome. Leitner Warywoda PLLC, 44 Elm Street, Suite 19, Huntington, NY 11743, (631) 240-4390.