Assisted Living Facilities in Ohio

A Caregiver's Guide to Assisted Living Facilities in Ohio

What they're called

Official name: Residential Care Facilities

Common name: Assisted living facilities

To compare assisted living to board and care, skilled nursing, and other long-term residential care communities, see Residential Care Options: How to Decide.

What they offer

• Individual or shared (up to four persons) living units (from single rooms to multiroom apartments) with cooking facilities
• All meals, usually in a common dining area
• Supervision and health monitoring
• Administration of medications or assistance with self-administered medications
• Some minimal nursing services
• Personal care services, including help with activities of daily living (ADLs) such as eating, dressing, and bathing
• Social and exercise activities

Note: Some facilities also offer respite care and other special services.

What they cost

Median monthly fees: $3,325 (higher for residents requiring memory care)

State of Ohio requirements

• Facilities may provide up to 120 days of part-time skilled nursing services.
• Skilled nursing services may be provided by an outside licensed home healthcare agency or hospice.
• Bathroom facilities may be shared by up to eight residents in facilities constructed before April 2007; for facilities constructed after that date, each living unit must have a separate bathroom.

State of Ohio oversight

The Ohio Department of Health, Residential Care Facilities/Assisted Living (614-752-9524) licenses and regulates residential care facilities.

How to resolve problems or offer feedback

• Contact the Ohio long-term care ombudsman for your region of the state or call the central state office at 800-282-1206; this is a free service to help residents informally resolve problems with a facility.
• To register a complaint about a facility, you can contact Ohio's Department of Health, Bureau of Long Term Care Quality online or by phone toll-free at 800-342-0553.
• Rate and review assisted living facilities.

How to pay for assisted living in Ohio

• Most assisted living is paid for privately by the resident and/or his or her family.
• For Medicaid-eligible low-income residents, Ohio's assisted living waiver program pays part of the monthly fees for personal care services provided in participating facilities; the number of participants in the program is limited.
• Low-income veterans or surviving spouses of veterans may be eligible for Aid and Attendance or other payments from the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), which can help pay for assisted living.
• Some assisted living facilities offer sliding scale fees, making a higher level of care available to families that might not otherwise be able to afford it. Be sure to ask -- or ask a geriatric care manager in the area if he or she knows which facilities offer sliding scale fees.

Help finding and choosing a facility

• Hire a geriatric care manager (most have extensive local knowledge about assisted living facilities in a particular geographic area, including space availability, resident needs assessments, sliding scale fees, and resident satisfaction). To find a geriatric care manager, see Caring.com's Senior Living Directory.
• For details about assisted living facilities in each of the 50 U.S. states plus the District of Columbia, see A Caregiver's Guide to Assisted Living Facilities.