Care-facility inspections
How nursing homes and care facilities in Virginia are inspected, licensed, and held to account.
5 laws · 7 enforcement actions · 5 guides · 2 court decisions
See the details
The laws 5
- Code of Virginia § 32.1-123, "Definitions" (Title 32.1, Chapter 5, Article 1, "Hospital and Nursing Home Licensure and Inspection"): defines "nursing home," "certified nursing facility," "inspection," "immediate and serious threat," and the… law.lis.virginia.gov
- Code of Virginia § 32.1-135, "Revocation or suspension of license or certification of hospital or certified nursing facility; law.lis.virginia.gov
- Code of Virginia § 63.2-1701, "Licenses required; issuance, expiration, and renewal..." (Title 63.2, Chapter 17, "Licensure and Registration Procedures"): requires every assisted living facility, adult day center, or child welfare agency op… law.lis.virginia.gov
- Code of Virginia § 63.2-1709, "Enforcement and sanctions; assisted living facilities and adult day centers; interim administration; law.lis.virginia.gov
- Code of Virginia § 32.1-162.9, "Licenses required; renewal thereof" (Title 32.1, Chapter 5, Article 7.1, home care organization licensure act): requires a VDH license to establish or operate a "home care organization" (home health, personal… law.lis.virginia.gov
Know your rights 5
- VDH Office of Licensure and Certification, "About Nursing Home Inspections" - a consumer-facing guidance document explaining how the state licensing/federal certification inspection process works (survey team composition, frequency, complai… vdh.virginia.gov
- VDH OLC "Scope and Severity Grid with Deficiency Categorization" (rev. Dec. 2018) - the surveyor deficiency-classification framework (Levels 1-4, Immediate Jeopardy/Actual Harm categories) used to score nursing-facility survey findings vdh.virginia.gov
- VDH OLC guidance, "Notifying Local Ombudsmen of Surveys" (rev. Dec. 2018) - instructs facility administrators on the state-required process for notifying the Local Long-Term Care Ombudsman at the start of a certification survey's entrance c… vdh.virginia.gov
- VDH OLC guidance, "The Independent Informal Dispute Resolution (I-IDR) Process" - explains the state's process (implementing § 6111 of the ACA and 42 CFR §§488.331/488.431) for a nursing facility to contest a federal civil money penalty pla… vdh.virginia.gov
- VDSS Division of Licensing Programs, "Assisted Living Facilities Licensing Inspection Tool" - a voluntary provider-compliance worksheet outlining the information/documentation an ALF licensing inspector will review during an inspection dss.virginia.gov
Enforcement actions 3
- VDH Office of Licensure and Certification's "Nursing Home & ICF/IID Inspection and Report Library": a named-facility directory (by facility name, type, address, locality, and most recent survey date) linking to each of Virginia's ~300 licen… vdh.virginia.gov
- Virginia DSS Division of Licensing Programs' Assisted Living Facility Search: a per-facility lookup publishing license type, expiration date, qualification/capacity, assigned inspector, and a dated table of every inspection with a "Complain… dss.virginia.gov
- Virginia DSS Division of Licensing Programs' Adult Day Center Search: the same per-facility inspection/violation lookup application as the ALF Search, scoped to licensed adult day centers dss.virginia.gov
Orders & settlements 4
- 12VAC5-371, "Regulations for the Licensure of Nursing Facilities" (Virginia Department of Health) - the operative nursing-facility licensing regulation implementing Title 32.1, Chapter 5's Article 1 law.lis.virginia.gov
- 22VAC40-73, "Standards for Licensed Assisted Living Facilities" (Virginia Department of Social Services) - the operative ALF licensing/minimum-standards regulation implementing Title 63.2, Chapter 17 law.lis.virginia.gov
- 22VAC40-61, "Standards and Regulations for Licensed Adult Day Centers" (Virginia Department of Social Services) - the operative adult day center licensing regulation law.lis.virginia.gov
- 12VAC5-381, "Regulations for the Licensure of Home Care Organizations" (Virginia Department of Health) - the operative home care organization (home health/personal care/pharmaceutical-services) licensing regulation law.lis.virginia.gov
Court decisions 2
- Estate of Sara A. McCorkle, by Charlotte A. Shirey, Executor v. Erickson Senior Living, LLC, et al., Court of Appeals of Virginia, Record No. 0614-23-4 (memorandum opinion, Mar. vacourts.gov
- The Laurels of Bon Air, LLC, et al. v. Medical Facilities of America LIV Limited Partnership, et al. and Virginia Department of Health, Court of Appeals of Virginia, Record No. 1085-07-2 (published opinion, Apr. vacourts.gov
Official notices 5
- VDH Office of Licensure and Certification's "Executive Order 52 - Nursing Home Oversight" bulletin: announces the Governor's directive to VDH/the State Health Commissioner to expand OLC inspector workforce capacity (incl. vdh.virginia.gov
- VDH "Nursing Home Oversight Plan: Phased Framework 2026-2027" (with cover memo from April Dovel, Director, Office of Licensure and Certification) - the OLC's own published implementation plan for the Executive Order 52 oversight initiative vdh.virginia.gov
- VDSS Division of Licensing Programs provider memo (dated Aug. 3, 2026 email / July 29, 2026 memo, from Director Tara Ragland), "Statutory and Regulatory Requirements for Inspections, Staffing, and Access to Records," distributed to assisted… dss.virginia.gov
- VDSS Division of Licensing Programs provider memo (Jan. 28, 2026), "Revised Process for Issuing Inspection Documents," distributed to ALFs, adult day centers, child-placing agencies, children's residential facilities, and child-caring insti… dss.virginia.gov
- VDSS Division of Licensing Programs provider memo (Jun. 16, 2025), "ALF Provider Memo: Proposed Action for 22VAC40-73, Standards for Licensed Assisted Living, Notice of Public Comment" - a rulemaking-comment-period notice for the ALF licens… dss.virginia.gov