Some of our most visited articles on SeniorLiving FAQ are those concerning how to file a complaint against a healthcare facility, such as Assisted Living. Many residents and families don’t know where to turn if their facility is negligent, and not able to handle issues of health, safety or privacy on their own.
Adding to the confusion – each state has different ways of filing a complaint, and there really is no national ‘one-stop’ place to go to make it easy.
Fortunately, for Wisconsin residents, filing a complaint is relatively easy and straightforward.
How To File A Complaint in Wisconsin
The Wisconsin Department of Health Services is a robust, information-rich place to find information relevant to all aspects of Long-Term-Care, and Assisted Living in Wisconsin. Here, you can:
- Learn about Assisted Living and how the State of Wisconsin defines Assisted Living Care.
- Locate A Facility or Provider Statewide
- File a Complaint
To file a complaint, visit the ‘Complaints or Problems With Your Healthcare‘ page on the DHS site. At this time the page looks like this:
Wisconsin’s Safest Facilities:
As you can see, there are four sections to choose from.
- Complaints about health and residential care
- Problems with a health professionals
- Problems with your health plan
- Problems with medical debt
To file a complaint, you will most likely be concerned with one of the first two choices.
Complaints about health and residential care
At this time, this page on the DHS site looks like this:
An important note – complaints can be made anonymously according to the DHS. It specifically states that “The identity of the person filing the complaint is not disclosed to the provider…”
There are a few different ways you can submit your complaint.
First, you can complete a form that can be used to file a complaint about care received at:
- Nursing home
- Licensed Assisted living facility (adult day care, adult family home, community-based residential facility, or residential care apartment complex)
- Hospital, home health, hospice
- Other facility or program regulated by DQA
At this time the form will look something like this:
Alternatively, you may call 800-642-6552 to submit a complaint.
Lastly, you can try to contact one of the regional offices that oversees the facility in the area you are located.
Additional Information and Resources
Another place to turn for information and support is the Wisconsin Assisted Living Association. The WALA site has a wealth of information including a Provider Search Tool help you locate a facility.
Wisconsin Residents:
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This facility is running iligally on both the dementia unit and assited living. They are neglecting and abusing residents and co workers. Management fails to help and manipulates and threatens the employees. Employees are working so understaffed they aren’t being trained and being thrown in a dementia unit with over 26 residents by themselves to not only pass meds but also do cares alone. Residents are being forgotten at meal times, saturated for hours on numerous occasions because nobody is able to clean them up. They are not being toillited every 2 hours which is a state law. They are not getting meds on time especially active passing residents that are being neglected and not repositioned on 2 hour schedule. Its not clean there. Nmerous ocations there was BM everywhere in public areas and leading to different rooms for over an hour. As I stated residents are being forgotten about at meal times and not getting the proper food at proper times. This place is not only disgusting to the residents but also disgusting to its co workers. They lie, manipulate, threaten, and steal from their employees and residents. Beware of this facility! Its running iligally! Do not put a loved one here! They will not get proper care at all!
Need sue some hospital and doctors for lieing to me and bad medical care