Care-facility inspections
How nursing homes and care facilities in New Jersey are inspected, licensed, and held to account.
6 laws · 5 enforcement actions · 3 guides · 1 court decision
See the details
The laws 6
- N.J.S.A. 26:2H-12, "Operation, requirements for certain health care facilities; application for license; lis.njleg.state.nj.us
- N.J.S.A. 26:2H-13, "Violations; penalties; notice; hearing" — the Department of Health's core enforcement-authority statute: after serving written charges, the Department may assess penalties, and deny, place on probationary/provisional sta… lis.njleg.state.nj.us
- N.J.S.A. 26:2H-14, "Unlicensed health care facility; rules; violations; penalties" — sets the actual dollar penalties: operating a health care facility without the required license (or after license revocation/suspension) carries a penalty… lis.njleg.state.nj.us
- N.J.S.A. 30:13-1, "Legislative findings and declarations" — the opening section of the Nursing Home Responsibilities and Rights of Residents Act (NHA), declaring that resident well-being "requires a delineation of the responsibilities of nu… lis.njleg.state.nj.us
- N.J.S.A. 30:13-3, "Responsibilities of nursing homes" — enumerates nursing homes' operative duties toward residents under the NHA (safekeeping and quarterly accounting of resident funds/property, personal-needs-allowance beneficiary designa… lis.njleg.state.nj.us
- N.J.S.A. 30:13-8, "Violations; causes of action; damages" — the NHA's private-enforcement provision: any resident whose rights under the Act are violated has a direct cause of action for actual and punitive damages plus reasonable attorney'… lis.njleg.state.nj.us
Know your rights 3
- NJDOH "Guidance Memorandums" archive — the Health Facilities program's running, dated compliance-guidance library for licensed facilities (entries current through September 2026), including memoranda on transfer-of-ownership rules, space-sh… nj.gov
- NJDOH "Facility Types" guide — plain-language definitions of every facility type the Department licenses that is relevant to elder/long-term care (Adult Day Care Services, Alternate Family Care, Assisted Living Program, Assisted Living Resi… nj.gov
- NJDOH "License Surveys/Inspections" guidance page — describes the state's nursing-home inspection program in concrete operational terms: about 500 unannounced nursing-facility inspections per year and roughly 1,000 complaint responses per y… nj.gov
Enforcement actions 2
- NJDOH "Health Care Facility Enforcement Actions" page — the Division of Health Facility Survey and Field Operations' own description of its enforcement toolkit: a civil monetary penalty of up to $5,000 per violation per day (state-law maxim… nj.gov
- "New Jersey Long Term Care Facilities Search" — NJDOH's own named-facility lookup tool for long-term care facilities (the current live address of the legacy web.doh.state.nj.us/apps2/healthfacilities/fsSearch.aspx URL that the enforcement_a… healthapps.nj.gov
Orders & settlements 3
- NJDOH Health Facilities' own "Statutes, Rules and Rule Proposals" page — lists the operative N.J.A.C. citations for state long-term/elder-care licensure: N.J.A.C. nj.gov
- NJDOH "Legal and Regulatory Compliance" rulemaking page — the Department's own account of how it adopts and publishes rules: notices of proposal are posted to comply with N.J.S.A. 52:14B-1 et seq. (the Administrative Procedure Act); nj.gov
- NJDOH's own live cross-reference confirming N.J.A.C. 8:43E-10.11(e) as the operative rule requiring long-term care providers to separately notify their local health department of reportable communicable diseases/outbreaks, alongside the Dep… nj.gov
Court decisions 1
Official notices 3
- NJDOH Guidance Memorandum dated September 3, 2026, "Civil Monetary Penalties for Violation of Transfer of Ownership Approval Requirement" — a provider-facing enforcement bulletin announcing the Department's decision to resume issuing CMP le… nj.gov
- NJDOH Guidance Memorandum dated June 29, 2026, "REVISED: Notification to the Department of Reportable Events and Emergencies and Updating and Usage of Emergency Plans" — reminds licensed facilities and personnel of the mandatory duty to not… nj.gov
- NJDOH "Submission of Reportable Events for Long-Term Care (LTC) Providers" bulletin — the survey agency's live provider notice on how licensed LTC facilities must register for and submit facility reportable events through the Department's N… nj.gov