If Your Loved One Is in Danger Now
Safety comes first.
- Call 911 for any emergency. Day or night, at any facility.
- Raise it with management. Sit down with the director of nursing or administrator, and follow that conversation with an email so the date is on record.
- Medical eyes on them. Insist on an exam by a physician, or drive them to an emergency room yourself.
Where to Report in South Carolina
Complaints about licensed nursing facilities can go to the South Carolina Department of Public Health, and concerns about residents' rights, care and treatment can go to the Long Term Care Ombudsman Program. If you think a crime happened, police can take a report too.1
- Long Term Care Ombudsman: 1-800-868-9095
- Department of Public Health, facility complaints: 1-800-922-6735
- SLED's Vulnerable Adults Investigations Unit (facility abuse): 1-866-200-6066
- DSS Adult Protective Services (an adult living at home): 1-888-227-34871
Families do not have to rely only on a facility's internal complaint process.1 Suspicion is enough to make a call. Facility residents count as vulnerable adults under the state's adult protection law.5
Keeping a Record
Once your parent is safe, start documenting.
- Drop by at odd hours. Mealtimes, evenings and Sunday afternoons show different staffing.
- Photograph what worries you. Bruises, pressure sores, wet bedding, a call button out of reach. Keep the dates.
- Log changes. Weight, appetite, mood, sleep and hygiene, plus every talk with staff.
- Find the admission packet. Keep a copy of everything signed at move-in.
- Save what got broken. Bent eyeglasses, a hearing aid that stopped working, a nightgown with a tear.
Want someone to look at your situation?
Talk with our team about what happened and ask the questions on your mind.
Negligence, Malpractice or Both
Nursing home cases may involve ordinary negligence, medical malpractice, or both. South Carolina's malpractice statutes list nursing homes among the institutions they cover, so some claims may need the pre-suit notice and expert affidavit steps.7 Which rules apply depends on the conduct alleged, not simply on where the injury happened.6
How Long You Have to File
Most personal injury claims in South Carolina must be filed within three years, and that limit is for a lawsuit, not an insurance claim.23 Claims that involve medical malpractice can carry their own discovery rules and an outer cutoff.4 Before suing, the injured person generally must file a notice of intent with an expert's affidavit and try mediation.8
Tort Claims Act lawsuits against state or local government entities generally have two years, or three years after a qualifying verified claim.910 A report to regulators does not stop any of these clocks.11
See our statewide nursing home page and medical malpractice in Greenville.
Talk With Us
Handing a parent's daily care to strangers is hard enough. Finding bruises or bedsores afterward is worse. Our first questions are about what you've noticed and whether your mother or father is safe tonight.
Our office is on King Street in downtown Charleston. The first conversation can happen by phone. We take cases across South Carolina, including Greenville and the Upstate.
Phone us with your notes from visits and whatever the administrator told you.
South Carolina Law on This
- In South Carolina, complaints about licensed nursing facilities can be made to the South Carolina Department of Public Health (1-800-922-6735), and concerns about residents' rights, care and treatment can be taken to the Long Term Care Ombudsman Program (1-800-868-9095). Suspected abuse in long-term care facilities can also be reported to SLED's Vulnerable Adults Investigations Unit (1-866-200-6066). Abuse of adults living in the community generally goes to Adult Protective Services at the Department of Social Services (1-888-227-3487). Suspected crimes can be reported to law enforcement. Families do not have to rely only on a facility's internal complaint process.1
- Most personal injury claims in South Carolina must be filed within three years.2
- South Carolina's statute of limitations generally sets the deadline for filing a lawsuit in court. Simply opening a claim with an insurance company or negotiating with an insurance adjuster does not stop the statute of limitations from running.3
- Medical malpractice claims in South Carolina generally must be filed within three years of the treatment, or of when the injury was or should have been discovered, but no later than six years after the treatment, with limited exceptions.4
- Under South Carolina's Omnibus Adult Protection Act, nursing home staff, health care workers, caregivers, including family members who provide care, and others must report suspected abuse, neglect or exploitation of a vulnerable adult. Anyone else may report it. Facility residents count as vulnerable adults.5
- Nursing home cases may involve ordinary negligence, medical malpractice, or both. Claims involving professional medical care may require special pre-suit procedures, including a Notice of Intent to File Suit, an expert affidavit, and mediation. Which rules apply depends on the conduct alleged, not simply on the fact that the injury occurred in a nursing home.6
- South Carolina's medical malpractice statutes list nursing homes among the health care institutions they cover, so some nursing home negligence claims may need to follow the pre-suit notice and expert affidavit steps.7
- Before filing a medical malpractice lawsuit in South Carolina, the injured person generally must file a notice of intent to sue along with an expert's affidavit, and the parties must then try mediation.8
- Lawsuits under the South Carolina Tort Claims Act generally must be filed within two years after the loss was or should have been discovered. A three-year deadline may apply if a qualifying verified claim was first filed under the Act.9
- Claims against a South Carolina state or local government agency have their own filing deadline, which can be shorter, and there could be caps on damages under the South Carolina Tort Claims Act, depending on the facts of the case.10
- Reporting abuse to regulators does not itself file a civil lawsuit or automatically extend the time to sue.11
- A nursing home resident who retains decision-making capacity generally has the right to participate in decisions about their own care and living arrangements. A family member does not automatically have legal authority to move the resident; someone with legal decision-making authority may need to coordinate a transfer.12
- In South Carolina, a wrongful death lawsuit is brought by the personal representative of the deceased person's estate on behalf of family members designated by law. The beneficiaries are the surviving spouse and children, or, if there are none, the deceased person's parents. If none of those relatives survive, other legal heirs may benefit from the claim.13
- Under South Carolina law, wrongful death lawsuits generally must be filed within three years of the person's death. However, different rules may apply when a death involves medical malpractice, a government agency, or other circumstances governed by special laws. A related survival claim may also have a different filing deadline.14
Frequently Asked Questions
If I report the facility, have I started a lawsuit?
No. Reporting abuse to regulators does not itself file a civil lawsuit or automatically extend the time to sue.11 The report protects the resident, and talking with a lawyer can happen at the same time.
Can I move Mom to a different facility in Greer or Simpsonville?
A resident who retains decision-making capacity generally has the right to take part in decisions about their own care and living arrangements, and a family member does not automatically have authority to move them.12 Ask for copies of the records, photograph any injuries and make sure medications continue through the move.
My father died after his time in a nursing home. Can our family do anything?
In South Carolina, a wrongful death lawsuit is brought by the personal representative of the estate on behalf of family members designated by law.13 Wrongful death suits generally must be filed within three years of the death, though different rules may apply when a death involves medical malpractice.14 Malpractice pre-suit steps may also come into play.8
Who is required to report suspected abuse?
Nursing home staff, health care workers, caregivers, including family members who provide care, and others must report suspected abuse, neglect or exploitation of a vulnerable adult, and anyone else may report it.5
Sources
- SC DPH: File a health facility complaint; SC Department on Aging: Long Term Care Ombudsman Program
- S.C. Code § 15-3-530
- S.C. Code §§ 15-3-20 and 15-3-530
- S.C. Code § 15-3-545
- S.C. Code §§ 43-35-10 and 43-35-25
- S.C. Code §§ 15-79-110, 15-79-125 and 15-36-100
- S.C. Code §§ 15-79-110(2), 15-79-110(6) and 15-79-125
- S.C. Code §§ 15-79-125 and 15-36-100
- S.C. Code §§ 15-78-80 and 15-78-110
- S.C. Code §§ 15-78-110 and 15-78-120
- Sean Hall, Nov 5, 2026 page review; see S.C. Code § 15-3-530
- S.C. Code Title 62, Article 5 and §§ 62-8-101 et seq. (guardianship, conservatorship and decision-making authority)
- S.C. Code §§ 15-51-10 and 15-51-20
- S.C. Code §§ 15-3-530(6) and 15-3-545
This page is general information about South Carolina law, not legal advice for your situation. Every case depends on its own facts.
