The Cleveland-area long-term care ombudsman
Ombudsmen advocate for nursing home and assisted living residents, free and confidential. Cuyahoga, Geauga, Lake, Lorain and Medina counties are Region 10A, operated by the Long-Term Care Ombudsman of Cleveland at 1-800-365-3112. Summit and Portage counties are a different region, 10B, operated by Direction Home Akron Canton.
Ombudsmen advocate for residents of nursing homes and residential care facilities (assisted living and memory care), investigating complaints about care quality, residents' rights, improper transfer or discharge, restraint use, and abuse or neglect. Ohio's Long-Term Care Ombudsman Program is administered through the Ohio Department of Aging and delivered through regional offices. Services are free and confidential, and an ombudsman acts only with the consent of the resident or their representative.
Region 10A — Eastern Lakefront (Cuyahoga, Geauga, Lake, Lorain, Medina)
- Operator: Long-Term Care Ombudsman of Cleveland (LTCO)
- Phone: 1-800-365-3112
- Address: 8111 Rockside Rd., Suite 250, Valley View, OH 44125
- Website: http://www.ltco.org/
A phone number of 1-800-282-1206 appears in some general search results for Ohio's ombudsman program but could not be verified against a primary source. Do not use it without confirming directly with aging.ohio.gov.
Source: Ohio Region 10A Long-Term Care Ombudsman Program
Reporting abuse or neglect in Ohio
Ohio Adult Protective Services is administered county by county, not through one statewide hotline. In Cuyahoga County, call the Division of Senior and Adult Services at 216-420-6700, a 24-hour reporting line. Elsewhere in this site's 7 counties, contact your county's Job and Family Services department, or use the statewide fallback at 855-644-6277 (855-OHIO-APS).
Cuyahoga County
- Cuyahoga County Division of Senior and Adult Services (DSAS): 216-420-6700. 24-hour reporting line for abuse, neglect, self-neglect, and financial exploitation of adults age 60 and older in Cuyahoga County.
- Website
Lake, Lorain, Medina, Geauga, Summit and Portage counties
Lake, Lorain, Medina, Geauga, Summit, and Portage counties each run their own county JFS or DJFS Adult Protective Services intake rather than sharing Cuyahoga's number. Families in those counties should contact their county Job and Family Services department directly to find the correct local reporting line.
Emergency: Call 911 if someone faces immediate risk of death or serious harm.
Abuse or neglect occurring inside a licensed nursing home or residential care facility should also be reported to the Ohio Department of Health complaint line at 1-800-342-0553, in addition to or instead of county APS, since facility-based care is an ODH licensing matter.
Which one to call
The long-term care ombudsman and the Ohio Department of Health complaint line do different jobs, and using one does not preclude the other. The ombudsman advocates for a resident and can attend a care conference with you, but does not license, inspect or fine a facility. ODH investigates regulatory complaints and can take enforcement action, but is not an advocate for an individual resident's preferences the way an ombudsman is.
The consent rule
An ombudsman acts only with the consent of the resident or their legal representative. This surprises adult children. If a parent has capacity and does not want a complaint pursued, that decision stands, even where family disagrees with it.
If you are told your parent must leave
Call your region's ombudsman before you agree to anything or sign a move-out notice. This is exactly what the office exists for, it is free, and it is independent of the Ohio Department of Health.
