Using the Internet to Review Nursing Facilities

Before you trust a nursing facility to care for you or a loved one, we strongly recommend that you do your homework and review as much information as you can on the prospective facility. The following is a list of websites compiled to help you with this data review. This list is for informational purposes only, and we do not intend to endorse any websites or services included in this list. This list also is not intended to be a complete list of websites and services, but instead can help you start your search for the right facility.

  • Bet Tzedek Legal Services, with the assistance of the National Senior Citizens Law Center, published several guide books to assist with the search for nursing and assisted living facilities. These books are available for download, or we would be happy to send you hard copies of these companion guides.
    = Assisted Living Companion
    = Nursing Home Companion
  • California Advocates for Nursing Home Reform (CANHR) provides information on all California nursing facilities, including interactive searches, comparisons and details of violations.
    = CA Nursing Homes by County
    = Nursing Home Guide
  • CANHR also provides information on Operation Guardians, a project of the state Department of Justice. Operation Guardians conducts surprise inspections of California nursing facilities. The resulting reports are usually not made available to the public, but CANHR was able to obtain all reports issued from January 1, 2010 through March 7, 2012.
    = Operation Guardians
  • CANHR also provides information on evaluating Residential Care/Assisted Living facilities:
    = Residential Care/Assisted Living Facilities
  • ProPublica has tools to research and compare nursing facilities, and allows you to search nursing home inspection reports.
    = ProPublica
  • US News provides information on certain nursing facilities in California.
    = US News
  • Medicare.gov provides information about every Medicare and Medicaid-certified nursing home in the country.
    = Medicare.gov

Although the websites above may help you in choosing a nursing facility, you should always personally visit the prospective facility, speak to staff and residents (if possible) and get a feel for the quality of care and staff.

[Disclaimer: The materials contained on this website have been authored or gathered by the Law Offices of Stuart D. Zimring, and are intended for informational purposes only. It is not intended to be and is not considered to be legal advice. Transmission is not intended to create and receipt does not establish an attorney-client relationship.]