El Paso Senior AdvisorWhere do we report a problem at an El Paso assisted living facility or nursing home?
Call HHSC Complaint and Incident Intake at 1-800-458-9858, open Monday to Friday 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Central time (6 a.m. to 6 p.m. in El Paso), or file online; HHSC investigates complaints about licensed facilities and agencies, including abuse or neglect inside a facility.
Call 911 first if someone is in immediate danger. When you call intake, have the facility name and address, the resident's name, dates and times, what happened and who was involved. Investigations are unannounced, and the results feed the same TULIP record our facility pages reproduce.
Who investigates abuse of an older adult living at home in El Paso?
Adult Protective Services, part of the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services, investigates abuse, neglect and financial exploitation of older adults and adults with disabilities living in the community; report at 1-800-252-5400, any hour, or at txabusehotline.org for non-urgent reports.
The split matters: abuse inside a licensed facility goes to HHSC intake, while abuse in a private home, including by a family member or an unlicensed caregiver, goes to APS. Families often call the wrong line first; either one will redirect you, but calling the right one saves time.
What does the long-term care ombudsman do for El Paso residents?
The ombudsman program advocates for residents of nursing facilities and assisted living, helping resolve problems with care, rights, discharges and quality of life; in El Paso and Hudspeth counties it is run by the Rio Grande Area Agency on Aging at (915) 533-0998, and the state office answers at 1-800-252-2412.
Ombudsmen are free, confidential and work for the resident, not the facility or the family. They can attend a care plan meeting, help contest a discharge notice, and push a facility to fix a problem without a formal complaint. The program also trains certified volunteer ombudsmen who visit El Paso facilities regularly.
How do we complain about a home care or home health agency in Texas?
Home health, hospice and personal assistance agencies are licensed by HHSC under 26 TAC chapter 558, so complaints about them also go to HHSC Complaint and Incident Intake at 1-800-458-9858.
If the agency is billing Medicare, you can also contact the Medicare beneficiary line, and if a caregiver hired through STAR+PLUS is the problem, call the health plan's service coordinator as well. Texas requires agencies to check the employee misconduct registry and nurse aide registry before hiring, so a confirmed finding of abuse can bar a worker from future jobs.
Will a complaint lead to retaliation against my parent?
Texas residents' rights rules prohibit retaliation for a complaint, HHSC keeps the complainant's identity confidential, and the ombudsman can watch for any change in treatment after a complaint is filed.
Keep a simple written log of what you see and when, and copies of anything you send. If a facility responds to a complaint by issuing a discharge notice, contact the ombudsman right away; discharge disputes are one of the program's most common cases.
Side by side
| Call this line | For this situation | |
|---|---|---|
| HHSC intake, 1-800-458-9858 | Care, safety or abuse in a licensed facility or agency | Abuse at home by family |
| APS, 1-800-252-5400 | Abuse, neglect or exploitation of someone living at home | A complaint about a licensed facility's care |
| Ombudsman, (915) 533-0998 | Help resolving a resident's problem or discharge | Emergencies; call 911 |
| 911 | Immediate danger | Routine complaints |
Sources: Texas Health and Safety Code chapters 142, 242 and 247; 26 Texas Administrative Code chapters 553, 554, 558 and 559; HHSC program handbooks; CareScout, CMS and VA rate tables, as cited above. See our editorial standards.
