Concerned about care someone received?
If something feels wrong about the care your family member is getting, you are allowed to take that feeling seriously. This page is factual and short: what neglect can look like, and exactly where to report it in Minnesota. Reporting is free, it can be done today, and facilities are prohibited by law from retaliating against a resident because someone complained.
What neglect can look like
- Unexplained bruises, skin tears, or pressure sores (bedsores), especially on the heels, hips, or tailbone
- Rapid weight loss, dehydration, or medication that seems missed or doubled
- Poor hygiene: unchanged briefs, unwashed hair, long fingernails, soiled bedding
- Falls that keep happening, or a serious fall no one called you about
- A resident who becomes withdrawn, fearful, or agitated around particular staff
- Call lights that go unanswered while staff say everything is fine
- Belongings or money that go missing, or documents signed that no one explains
- Staff who cannot say who is responsible for your family member's care today
One item alone can have an innocent explanation. A pattern, or a facility that cannot explain, is worth a report. Write down dates, take photos where appropriate, and keep copies of what you send.
Where to report, in Minnesota
MAARC, the Minnesota Adult Abuse Reporting Center: 844-880-1574
The statewide, 24-hour line for reporting suspected maltreatment of any vulnerable adult: abuse, neglect, or financial exploitation, in a facility or anywhere else. Anyone can report, you can report with what you know now, and you do not need proof to call. MAARC routes the report to the right investigating agency.
MDH Office of Health Facility Complaints
The state office that investigates complaints about care in licensed facilities: nursing homes, assisted living, home care. File online through the OHFC complaint page or by phone at 651-201-4201. Substantiated findings become part of the facility's public record, the same record this site shows on every facility page.
The Ombudsman for Long-Term Care: 651-431-2555
A free state advocate for residents and families. The ombudsman's office can help you push for better care, navigate a discharge dispute, or decide what to report and where, without any investigation being opened unless you want one.
You can report to more than one of these. If you are unsure where to start, MAARC is the single door that routes everything.
When it may also be a legal matter
Reporting protects the person and creates a record. Separately, when neglect causes real harm, a serious injury, an unexplained death, or losses from financial exploitation, a family sometimes has civil legal rights too. That is a conversation with a lawyer, not a form on a website, and it can wait until the person is safe.
This site is built by Dan Swenson, a Minnesota attorney at Robert Wilson & Associates. If you want to ask whether what happened is worth a lawyer's time, you can send him a note, and he or his firm will answer honestly, including telling you when the answer is no. Nothing is sent from this page, and reporting to the state does not require talking to any lawyer.
This page is general information, not legal advice. Attorney advertising. Reading it does not create an attorney-client relationship.