(1) Every nursing home must have a grievance procedure available to its residents and their families. The grievance procedure must include:

(a) An explanation of how to pursue redress of a grievance.

Terms Used In Florida Statutes 400.1183

  • Agency: means the Agency for Health Care Administration, which is the licensing agency under this part. See Florida Statutes 400.021
  • Facility: means any institution, building, residence, private home, or other place, whether operated for profit or not, including a place operated by a county or municipality, which undertakes through its ownership or management to provide for a period exceeding 24-hour nursing care, personal care, or custodial care for three or more persons not related to the owner or manager by blood or marriage, who by reason of illness, physical infirmity, or advanced age require such services, but does not include any place providing care and treatment primarily for the acutely ill. See Florida Statutes 400.021
  • Nursing home facility: means any facility which provides nursing services as defined in part I of chapter 464 and which is licensed according to this part. See Florida Statutes 400.021
(b) The names, job titles, and telephone numbers of the employees responsible for implementing the facility‘s grievance procedure. The list must include the address and the toll-free telephone numbers of the ombudsman and the agency.
(c) A simple description of the process through which a resident may, at any time, contact the toll-free telephone hotline of the ombudsman or the agency to report the unresolved grievance.
(d) A procedure for providing assistance to residents who cannot prepare a written grievance without help.
(2) Each nursing home facility shall maintain records of all grievances and a report, subject to agency inspection, of the total number of grievances handled, a categorization of the cases underlying the grievances, and the final disposition of the grievances.
(3) Each facility must respond to the grievance within a reasonable time after its submission.
(4) The agency may investigate any grievance at any time.