Report a concern
Anyone can use this: a resident’s relative, an employee, a visitor, a contractor. A name is optional.
Reports go to the facility’s ownership and its attorneys. CareGuard is a Patient Safety Organization, not a regulator, and keeps no copy. This does not replace emergency or state reporting — call 911, the Missouri Adult Abuse and Neglect Hotline at 800-392-0210, or the Long-Term Care Ombudsman at 800-309-3282.
What is useful to include
- The facility, and the unit or wing if you know it.
- What you saw or heard, in plain words, with a date.
- Whether it has happened before.
- Whether you already raised it with the facility, and what happened.
What not to include
- A resident’s full name, if room number and date will do. Keep identifiable health information out of a web form.
- Photographs of a hazard help; photographs of residents do not. The form accepts an upload. A broken grab bar, an unlocked medication cart, a blocked exit or a wet floor is worth photographing. A resident, a wound or a chart is not — keep identifiable people and health information out of it.
More detail before you send
Who this is for
- Relatives and visitors — what to expect.
- Facility employees — what to expect.
- Contractors, vendors, volunteers and clergy — the same channel, no employment relationship required. Who can report.
What happens next
The report is transmitted to the facility’s ownership and to the attorneys ownership has designated. CareGuard keeps no copy, which means there is no status to check afterwards and no case number to hold. Why it is built that way.