FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE July 28, 2026
Media Contact: Maria Reppas, Maria.Reppas@vdh.virginia.gov
Virginia Department of Health Implements “Roadmap” to Improve Regulatory Oversight for Nursing Homes in the Commonwealth
Plan Addresses Recertification Inspections Required of All Facilities, Backlog of Complaint Investigations Plaguing Industry
(RICHMOND, Va.) — In order to protect the most vulnerable Virginians, the Virginia Department of Health (VDH) and its Office of Licensure and Certification (OLC) are implementing a “roadmap” to improve regulatory oversight for nursing homes in the Commonwealth by addressing facility recertification inspections and complaint investigations.
“This is ultimately about trust,” said Secretary of Health and Human Resources Marvin Figueroa. “Virginians deserve confidence that when they enter a long-term care facility, the Commonwealth has a strong system in place to ensure that facility is providing safe, high-quality care. That’s the standard we’re working towards.”
“Every Virginian deserves safe, quality care in a long-term care facility,” said State Health Commissioner Cameron Webb, MD. “This plan will help ensure our Office of Licensure and
Certification can provide timely and thorough oversight across every facility in the Commonwealth.”
The goals of the plan are multi-pronged:
- Stabilize long-term care survey operations,
- Reduce the nursing facility recertification backlog,
- Standardize enforcement decision-making processes, and
- Construct internal infrastructure to sustain these gains over the long term.
Implementation will occur over three phases: immediate stabilization and recertification workload reduction; consistent enforcement and engagement framework; and building out a strengthened training, onboarding, quality assurance, workforce sustainability, and data systems regimented to support OLC’s overall mission.
VDH and OLC are operating under clear guiding principles in the approach to overseeing and regulating nursing homes and long-term care facilities in the Commonwealth:
- Resident health, safety, and quality of care remain the central priority for all operational, staffing, survey, complaint, enforcement, and data decisions.
- Oversight must be timely, consistent, transparent, and defensible, with clear documentation and legally sound regulatory action.
- Operational improvements must be realistic, measurable, and sustainable, grounded in actual workforce capacity, certification timelines, complaint volume, and contractor availability.
- Stakeholder engagement must inform system improvement while preserving OLC’s regulatory responsibility and accountability.
- Internal infrastructure must support long-term workforce capacity, staff readiness, quality assurance, and consistent statewide implementation.
- Data must guide decisions, monitor progress, identify risk, and support timely leadership action
Within the last six months, The Virginia Department of Health has taken a number of critical steps to improving the solvency and capacity of the Office of Licensure and Certification. Coming into 2026, there were approximately 214 facilities that were in need of recertification inspections; since January 2026, that total has been reduced to 170, a reduction of 20.6%. The percentage of facilities within the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid window of 15.9 months to be inspected increased from 26.5% in January 2026 to 41.6% currently. And OLC has cleared all 2021 and 2022 facilities from the overdue list.
VDH and OLC are building a more disciplined, data-informed, and sustainable oversight model to reduce the backlog of inspections and investigations while maintaining focus on resident health, safety, and quality of care. The operational objective is to move OLC from a reactive posture to a disciplined, data-informed oversight model. Success will be measured by improved survey timeliness, protected response to high-priority complaints, consistent enforcement actions, stronger staff readiness, and increased leadership visibility into risk, workload, and production. The ultimate purpose remains resident protection: ensuring that nursing home residents across the Commonwealth receive safe, appropriate, and high-quality care that all Virginians and their families deserve.
To learn more about the Office of Licensure and Certification, its duties, and its mission, visit the office’s website: www.vdh.virginia.gov/licensure-and-certification/
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