Emergencies and official routes
CareGuard is a reporting channel to a facility’s owners. It is not an emergency service, it is not a regulator, and it is not a substitute for the official routes below. If the situation is on this page, use the official route first.
If someone is in immediate danger
Call 911. Do not send a form. Nothing on this site is monitored in real time.
Suspected abuse, neglect or exploitation of an adult in Missouri
The Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services runs the state’s adult protective services reporting line.
- Adult Abuse and Neglect Hotline: 1-800-392-0210, open 7:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m., seven days a week.
- Report online at moapss.health.mo.gov.
- Program information: health.mo.gov/safety/abuse.
- Relay Missouri, for callers who need interpreting assistance: 1-800-735-2966.
A concern about a long-term care facility, where you want an independent advocate
The Missouri Long-Term Care Ombudsman Program advocates for residents of nursing homes and assisted living facilities. It is independent of the facility and of CareGuard.
- Missouri Long-Term Care Ombudsman Program: 800-309-3282
- Email: LTCOmbudsman@health.mo.gov
- Program information: health.mo.gov/seniors/ombudsman.
Why this page exists
A report sent through CareGuard goes to a facility’s owners and their attorneys. It is easy to assume, reasonably, that something described as a “confidential patient safety reporting system” reaches a government body. It does not. CareGuard told AHRQ in writing, on its PSO listing form, that it is not an entity that accredits or licenses health care providers and not an entity that oversees or enforces regulatory requirements. Anyone deciding where to take a serious concern should know that before they choose.
You can do both
Using an official route does not close the CareGuard channel, and using CareGuard does not close the official one. If a facility’s ownership genuinely does not know what is happening in one of its buildings, telling them is still worth doing — after the call that needs to be made first.
If the situation is not one of the above
The CareGuard channel carries a concern to the facility’s ownership and its attorneys. It sits alongside the routes above, not in place of them.