NURSING HOMES/LONG TERM CARE

Medicare offers limited skilled nursing facility care when certain conditions are met. Call a Department of Human Services long term care office for information about Medical Assistance (Medicaid) and nursing home care.

Area offices include:

Cranston	462-5182
East Providence	222-7311
Newport	849-6000
Providence (Nursing Home Unit)	462-2400
Providence (Waiver/Adult Services Unit):	222-7371
Woonsocket.	235-6300

The Department of Health - Facilities Regulation maintains a list of nursing homes and investigates patient abuse. Call 222-2566 (Voice/TTY) for information.

The Medical Assistance and Paying for Nursing Home Care is available from DEA. Call 462-3000.

The Alliance for Better Long Term Care, 422 Post Road, Warwick, RI 02888 serves as the state’s long term care ombudsman, offering mediation and problem-solving. For a more information, about the Alliance and its services, call 785- 3340 or refer to the Ombudsman section in this booklet.

The Rhode Island Health Care Association, 57 Kilvert Street, Suite 200, Warwick, RI 02886 at 732-9333, and the Rhode Island Association of Facilities and Services for the Aging, 225 Chapman Street, Providence, RI 02905 at 490-7612 are sources of information about nursing home care.

Information is now available regarding the quality of care in local nursing homes. Among the measurements used are management of pain, nutrition, infections, the use of physical restraints, and other standards.

Go to the web at www.medicare.gov and select the Nursing Home Compare link. Information is available by states.

You can also call Medicare at 1-800- MEDICARE (633-4227), or 1-877-486-2048 (Voice/TTY).

Nursing home comparisons are also available at the RI Department of Health site www.health.state.ri.us and follow the links under the Nursing Home category.