Every Atlanta-area senior community must hold an active DCH/HFRD license — and the Georgia DCH facility search is the public tool to check it. Here's how to pull the record, read inspection findings, and spot red flags before you sign.
By Linda Alvarez, CDP · May 2, 2026
A senior care license is the legal floor: it confirms the community is authorized to operate and subject to inspection. In Georgia, that license comes from the Department of Community Health (DCH), Healthcare Facility Regulation Division (HFRD), and each community is licensed as either a Personal Care Home (PCH) under Ga. Comp. R. & Regs. 111-8-62 or an Assisted Living Community (ALC) under O.C.G.A. § 31-2-7 and 111-8-63, with a separate Memory Care Center designation available under 111-8-63 for communities meeting enhanced dementia-care requirements. Skilled nursing facilities are licensed separately by DCH/HFRD under 111-8-56 and are also certified by CMS.
A community operating without a current, active license is a serious problem, and residents there are at risk. Every Metro Atlanta facility — whether in Fulton, DeKalb, Cobb, Gwinnett, or Cherokee county — is licensed and inspected by the same statewide regulator, which makes verification straightforward: there's one system to check, not several.
Go to the Georgia DCH Healthcare Facility Regulation Division facility search at dch.georgia.gov and search by facility name or location. Review the license type — Personal Care Home or Assisted Living Community, and whether the community carries the Memory Care Center designation — along with the current license status, licensed capacity, and inspection and citation history. You can also cross-check skilled nursing facilities on Medicare's Care Compare.
DCH/HFRD conducts periodic and complaint-driven surveys and publishes findings publicly. Look for the date of the last survey and any repeat citations in areas like medication management, resident rights, supervision, or staffing. Repeat citations in the same category across successive inspection cycles signal a systemic problem, not a one-time slip. Weigh the most serious findings — those involving resident harm or safety — most heavily.
A provisional or restricted license, or a facility currently under enforcement action or a hold on admissions, means DCH/HFRD identified compliance problems serious enough to limit operations — a significant warning sign that deserves a direct explanation before you place a loved one there. A suspended or revoked license means the community should not be operating; if you encounter one, report it to DCH/HFRD.
A community that won't show you its current license, or becomes defensive when you ask about inspection findings, is telling you something. As a dementia care practitioner, I always pull the DCH/HFRD record before recommending any community — and I read the actual citations, not just a summary. If you ever suspect abuse or neglect, contact Georgia's Division of Aging Services Adult Protective Services. A free local advisor who works Metro Atlanta facilities regularly can check the DCH/HFRD facility search, interpret the findings in plain language, and flag anything that should give a family pause before signing.
Free, no-pressure call. We work for families, not facilities.