How to Read a Tennessee Assisted Living Inspection and Licensure Record

Tennessee assisted living inspection records

Key point: The Tennessee Health Facilities Commission licenses every Assisted Care Living Facility, publishes licence status and disciplinary actions, and inspects communities; deficiencies are common, and how they were corrected matters most.

What a good provider should make clear: A current licence of the right type, recent inspections with deficiencies that were corrected promptly, no pattern of the same problem, and no disciplinary action.

Common mistake: Treating any deficiency as disqualifying, or skipping the check because the building looks well run.

Questions to ask: May I see your most recent state inspection and your plan of correction, and what changed afterwards?

Where the records are

The directory on each city page of this site is built from the Commission's bed report and Facility Listings search, so the licence number shown there is the one to search for.

Step 1: check the licence

1. Search the community by name or licence number in the Commission's Facility Listings.
2. Confirm the facility type is Assisted Care Living Facility and the status is Licensed. Statuses such as probation, or an application that was withdrawn or closed, need an explanation.
3. Check the number of beds matches what you have been told, and, if you need memory care, that the bed report shows secured beds.
4. Note whether the listing shows disciplinary actions or "No Disciplinary Actions".
5. Check the owner and administrator. A recent change of either is worth asking about.

In the Commission's July 2026 bed report, 30 of the 31 Shelby County communities were listed as Licensed and one as On Probation. A probation status does not automatically rule a community out, but you should ask why, what has changed, and when it ends.

Step 2: read the inspections

The Commission's surveyors inspect licensed communities against the state's rules for Assisted Care Living Facilities, and investigate complaints. After a survey, the community receives a written statement of any deficiencies found, and must send back a plan of correction saying what it will do and by when.

When you read a survey:

• Read what actually happened, not just the rule number. "Failed to maintain documentation of fire drills" and "failed to provide medications as ordered to three residents" are very different.
• Sort by type. Paperwork and building findings are common and usually low risk. Findings about medications, falls, supervision, abuse or neglect, staffing and resident rights are the ones that matter for your parent.
• Look for repeats. The same deficiency at two or three surveys in a row means the plan of correction did not work.
• Read the plan of correction. A specific plan with names, training, audits and dates is a good sign. A vague one is not.
• Check complaint surveys. A survey triggered by a complaint that was substantiated tells you what went wrong for a real resident.

What is normal

A clean record with no deficiencies at all is uncommon. Rules cover everything from medication records to kitchen temperatures, and surveyors find something at most communities. Normal looks like:

• A small number of deficiencies at each survey, mostly about documentation or the building.
• Each corrected by the date in the plan.
• No repeat of the same finding at the next survey.
• No substantiated complaints about harm to residents, or one that was fully addressed.
• No disciplinary action.

What is not normal: deficiencies involving harm or risk of harm to residents, repeats, several substantiated complaints, probation, civil penalties, or a suspended or revoked licence.

Step 3: ask the community

Once you have read the record, ask the community about it directly. A good community will:

• Show you its most recent survey and plan of correction without hesitation.
• Explain what happened and what changed, with specifics.
• Not blame the surveyors or the residents.

Be wary of a community that says it does not have the report, will not show it, or says inspections "are not public". You can request the records from the Commission yourself.

Other places to check

• The long-term care ombudsman. Every area of Tennessee has a long-term care ombudsman who advocates for residents of assisted living and nursing homes. In Shelby County the programme is reached through the Aging Commission of the Mid-South. The ombudsman cannot rate communities, but can tell you how to raise a concern and what residents' rights are.
• Court records and news. A search of the community's name and its operator's name can surface lawsuits or reports.
• The operator's other communities. Many Memphis-area communities are run by regional or national operators. Patterns across an operator's buildings tell you about management.
• Reviews. Read them for patterns rather than single stories. One very bad or very good review is less informative than ten that say the same thing.

If you have a concern after move-in

Raise it with the community first, in writing, and keep a copy. If it is not resolved, or if it involves abuse, neglect or a serious safety issue, you can file a complaint with the Tennessee Health Facilities Commission, which investigates complaints against licensed facilities, and contact the long-term care ombudsman. In an emergency, call 911. Suspected abuse of a vulnerable adult in Tennessee can also be reported to Adult Protective Services.

If you are comparing nursing homes too

Nursing homes that take Medicare or Medicaid are inspected under federal rules, and their results are published on Medicare's Care Compare with star ratings for inspections, staffing and quality measures. Assisted living is not on Care Compare, which is why the state's record is the place to look for assisted living. Our levels of care guide explains the difference between the two.

A twenty-minute checklist

1. Licence type is Assisted Care Living Facility; status is Licensed.
2. Bed count and secured beds match what you were told.
3. No disciplinary actions, or an explanation you accept.
4. Most recent survey read, with deficiencies sorted by risk.
5. No repeat findings about medications, falls, supervision or staffing.
6. Plan of correction is specific and dated.
7. The community answered your questions about it plainly.

Questions to ask

• May I see your most recent state inspection and your plan of correction?
• Have you had any complaint investigations in the last two years? What were they about?
• Has your licence ever been on probation or subject to a penalty? Why, and what changed?
• Has the owner or administrator changed recently?
• Which other communities does your operator run?

Reading two examples

Imagine two communities, each with three deficiencies at their last survey.

Community A was cited for fire drill records missing one month, an expired item in the kitchen, and a staff training record not on file. Its plan of correction names the staff responsible, a new drill log, a weekly kitchen check and a training audit, all with dates. None of the three appeared at the previous survey. This is a normal record.

Community B was cited for medication not given as ordered to two residents, a resident who fell twice without the care plan being updated, and overnight staffing below what its own policy required. The same medication finding appeared at the previous survey. Its plan of correction says staff were "re-educated". This record deserves serious questions, however good the tour was.

Both communities have three deficiencies. Only one is a warning.

How this site uses the registry

The directory on this site is built from the Tennessee Health Facilities Commission's quarterly Assisted Care Living Facilities bed report and its Facility Listings search. Each row shows the licence number, licence type, phone number from the registry and the number of secured beds. We refresh it when the Commission publishes a new quarter. Listing is free, and no community can pay to change its row or its place in the list. When the registry has an obvious error, such as a phone number with the wrong area code, we correct it from the facility's own published contact details and keep a note of the change.

Ownership changes and what they can mean

The Facility Listings search shows the owner of each licence. Many Memphis-area communities have changed hands in recent years, often between regional and national operators, and some have changed their names. A change of owner is not good or bad in itself. New owners sometimes invest in renovation and staff; sometimes they cut costs. What matters is what happened to staffing, leadership and inspections after the change.

Ask the community when it last changed owner or management company, whether the executive director and nursing director stayed, and what the inspections since then have found. If the name on the building does not match the name on the licence, ask why; it usually means a recent rebrand, and the licence record will show the history.