How to check a Utah care facility's license and inspection record

A beautiful lobby and a friendly tour guide tell you very little. The public record tells you more: whether a facility is properly licensed, what inspectors found, and whether problems were fixed. In Utah, most of that record is free and online if you know where to look.

Which tool for which kind of care

Step 1: Search Utah DLBC licensing records

Utah’s Division of Licensing and Background Checks (DLBC), part of the Department of Health and Human Services, licenses health facilities and human services programs. Its Find a Facility page links to a search of DLBC licensing records.

• Search by the facility’s name and city. If you get no result, ask the facility for its exact legal or licensed name; it may differ from the name on the sign.
• Confirm the license is current and the license type matches the care being offered. For assisted living, note whether it is Type I or Type II and its licensed capacity.
• Look for compliance history and any sanction. DLBC uses “sanctioned” to mean the facility is under a department agency action.

Step 2: Check Medicare Care Compare

For nursing homes, Medicare-certified home health agencies, and hospices, Care Compare adds a national layer:

• Nursing homes: overall and component star ratings, full health inspection reports, staffing levels and turnover, and an abuse icon for homes cited for abuse. See nursing home star ratings explained.
• Home health: quality of patient care stars and patient survey stars.
• Hospice: family caregiver survey stars and measures such as visits in the last days of life.

When you read an inspection report, focus on what kind of problem it was, how many residents it affected, how serious the harm was, and whether it repeats from one inspection to the next.

Step 3: Call the Long-Term Care Ombudsman

Utah’s Long-Term Care Ombudsman program advocates for residents of nursing homes and assisted living. Ombudsmen visit facilities, help resolve problems, and protect residents’ rights. Services are provided without regard to income. The state office is at 801-538-3910, and every county has an assigned local ombudsman.

Ombudsmen generally will not tell you which facility to pick, but you can ask about the kinds of concerns they handle and what residents’ rights look like in practice.

Step 4: Ask the facility directly

• May I see your most recent state inspection or licensing report, and your plan of correction?
• Have you had any complaint investigations in the past year? What changed afterward?
• Is your license under any restriction, condition or sanction right now?

A confident, open answer is a good sign. Reluctance is information too. Our list of questions to ask on a facility tour covers the rest of the visit.

If something is wrong: where to report

• Emergency or danger: call 911.
• Concern about a licensed facility or program: use DLBC’s online “Submit a concern” form or call the Office of Licensing at 801-538-4242.
• Suspected abuse, neglect or exploitation of a vulnerable adult: Utah Adult Protective Services, 1-800-371-7897, weekdays 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., or the online report form any time.
• Residents’ rights issues in nursing homes or assisted living: the Long-Term Care Ombudsman.

Making sense of what you find

Almost every facility has some citations. A record with zero findings over years is rare. What matters is the pattern:

• Less worrying: a single paperwork or maintenance citation that was corrected promptly.
• Worth asking about: repeated problems in the same area, such as medication errors or staffing, across more than one inspection.
• Serious: findings involving actual harm to a resident, abuse or neglect, or an active sanction on the license.

When something concerns you, bring it up with the administrator. Ask what caused it, what changed, and how they know the fix is working. A good leader will answer plainly.

Keep a simple record

If you are comparing several places, a single page per facility helps: license type and capacity, date of the last inspection, anything notable you found, what the administrator said about it, and your own impressions from the visit. When the decision gets emotional, and it usually does, those notes keep you grounded in what you actually saw.

Common questions

How do I look up an assisted living license in Utah?

Use the Find a Facility page on dlbc.utah.gov and search Utah DLBC licensing records by the facility’s name. Confirm the license type and capacity.

Can I see inspection reports for Utah assisted living?

DLBC’s online search includes up to 36 months of licensing compliance history. Assisted living is not on Medicare Care Compare, so the state record is the main source.

Who do I call with a complaint about a Utah nursing home?

You can contact DLBC at 801-538-4242 or through its online concern form, and the Long-Term Care Ombudsman at 801-538-3910. For suspected abuse, call Adult Protective Services or 911.

How do I verify a Utah residential treatment facility license?

Residential treatment programs are licensed by DLBC as well, so the same Find a Facility search applies.