A step-by-step guide to checking a Philadelphia-area Personal Care Home, Assisted Living Residence, or nursing home's license and inspection history before you sign anything.
By Philly Senior Advisor Care Team — Licensing & Memory Care Team · May 5, 2026
Before checking a record, confirm which of Pennsylvania's two licensing agencies applies. Personal Care Homes (55 Pa. Code Ch. 2600) and Assisted Living Residences (55 Pa. Code Ch. 2800, Act 56 of 2007) are both licensed by the Department of Human Services (DHS). Nursing homes are licensed separately by the Department of Health (DOH) under 28 Pa. Code Chapter 211. If a community offers a 'continuum' campus with independent living, personal care, and a nursing wing on one property, each piece may carry a different license from a different agency — ask the administrator to specify exactly which license applies to the specific unit or wing your family member would live in.
Once you know the right agency, search its public facility-license database using the exact legal name of the provider (which can differ slightly from the marketing name on the sign out front) and the street address, since some operators run multiple locations under similar names across Philadelphia, Montgomery, Bucks, Delaware, and Chester counties.
Look at the most recent survey or inspection date, any cited deficiencies, and whether a plan of correction was filed and accepted. A single old, resolved citation is common and not necessarily a red flag; a pattern of repeat citations in the same category (medication management, staffing, resident rights) over multiple inspection cycles is worth asking the administrator about directly. Also check whether the facility currently holds a provisional license, is under a consent agreement, or has any pending enforcement action — all of which should show up in the public record.
Bring your questions to the tour: ask the administrator to walk through the most recent inspection findings with you, and compare their explanation against what the public record actually shows. Philadelphia Corporation for Aging counselors and the four collar-county Area Agencies on Aging can also help a family interpret a DHS or DOH record if the terminology is unfamiliar — this is a free service, not something families need to pay a placement agency to do.
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