Medicare offers limited skilled nursing facility care when certain conditions are met. Call a DHS long term care office for information about Medical Assistance (Medicaid) and nursing home care.

Area offices include:

Cranston................................462-5182
East Providence.............222-7311 or 222-7000 Newport...............849-6000 or 1-800-675-9397 Providence..................222-7371 or 222-7000 Woonsocket............235-6300 or 1-800-510-6988

The Department of Health maintains a list of nursing homes and investigates patient abuse. Call 222-2566 (Voice/TTY) for information.

The information leaflet Medical Assistance and Paying for Nursing Home Care is available from DEA. Call 462-4000 (Voice) or 462- 0740 (TTY)

The Alliance for Better Long Term Care, 422 Post Road, Warwick, RI 02888 serves as the state’s long term care ombudsman, offering mediation and problem-solving. For a more information, about the Alliance and its services, call 785- 3340 or refer to the Ombudsman section on page 57.

The Rhode Island Health Care Association, 57 Kilvert Street, Suite 200, Warwick, RI 02886 at 732-9333, and the Rhode Island Association of Facilities and Services for the Aging, 225 Chapman Street, Providence, RI 02905 at 490-7612 are sources of information about nursing home care.

Information is now available regarding the quality of care in local nursing homes. Among the measurements used are management of pain, nutrition, infections, the use of physical restraints, and other standards.

Go to the web at www.medicare.gov and select the Nursing Home Compare link. Information is available by states. You can also call Medicare at 1-800- MEDICARE (633-4227), or 1-877-486-2048 (Voice/TTY).

Nursing home comparisons are also available at the RI Department of Health site www.healthri.org and follow the links under the Nursing Home category