Report Alleged Incidents of Abuse, Neglect, Mistreatment or Financial Exploitation
The Division of Health Care Quality (DHCQ) inspects facilities and responds to complaints to ensures individuals who receive services in long term care facilities are safe, secure, and free from abuse, neglect, mistreatment, and financial exploitation. If you have a concern about patient safety or security, patient/client rights, quality of care, staffing or Health Insurance Portability and Accountability (HIPAA) privacy, it’s important that you report it!
- Online Portal
- 24/7 toll-free hotline 1-877-453-0012
This line is staffed between 8 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday. After 4:30 p.m. or on weekends and holidays, leave a message describing the complaint with the best number and time for an investigator to return your call.
You may also send us your complaint via fax or mail.
- Fax: 1-877-264-8516
- Mail: Division of Health Care Quality – Office of Long Term Care
The Cambridge Building – University Office Plaza
263 Chapman Road, Suite 200
Newark, DE 19702-5408
Not sure if you should report? Contact us anyway. We will take care of the rest. Please provide as much information as possible. DHCQ’s investigative team will analyze each report, determine appropriate follow-up action, and maintain the information in a central database.
Adult Abuse Registry
DHCQ also maintains an Adult Abuse Registry listing all persons in the State of Delaware who have a substantiated case of abuse, neglect, mistreatment, and/or financial exploitation in their backgrounds.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I have to give my name when I report abuse or neglect?
Yes. All investigative reports are confidential, and we do protect the privacy of persons who report complaints to our Division. However, the investigator may have follow-up questions and will need a way to reach you. State law protects all persons who report abuse or neglect in good faith from retaliation by the facility.
How will I know what happened to a case that I reported?
Once the case has been assigned to an investigator, if you have provided your name and address, you will receive a letter notifying you of the name of the investigator. Once the case is closed, you will receive another letter notifying you of the outcome.
Am I required to report incidents of abuse or neglect?
You are strongly encouraged to report suspected abuse, neglect, mistreatment and/or financial exploitation of resident in an acute care, long-term or assisted living facility.
State of Delaware law requires that any incident in which an employee of a facility has reasonable cause to believe that a resident has been abused, mistreated, neglected, and/or financially exploited must be reported. Employees and those who provide services to residents of facilities, are considered “mandatory reporters.”
What if I have trouble using the online portal to report abuse?
We encourage you to watch this video on how to complete report of abuse through the online portal. If you still need help, call 1-877-453-0012.
