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Office of Health Care Quality reports inspection backlog shrinking after new hires and federal contractor help
Summary
The Office of Health Care Quality told the Finance Committee it has increased nursing home inspections and complaint investigations after hiring surveyors and receiving federal contractor support; backlog of pending intakes fell from a July 2023 peak of about 9,500 to roughly 5,900 (Nov. 2024) and the agency estimates 2–3 years to catch up fully.
Maryland’s Office of Health Care Quality (OHCQ) told the Senate Finance Committee Thursday that the agency is increasing nursing home and complaint investigations after staffing and contractor investments but remains short of its inspection goals.
Deputy Secretary Nilesh Kalyanaraman and newly installed Executive Director Theo Witherspoon reported the agency oversees more than 22,000 licensed providers across 47 health industries and that long‑term care inspections are up: from a 40–48% increase in completed nursing home inspections from FY2022–FY2024 and a roughly 160% increase in the first five months of FY2025. The deputy secretary said the backlog of pending intakes (complaints and facility‑reported incidents) had declined from a peak near 9,500 on July 1, 2023, to about 5,900 as of the end of November 2024; OHCQ said it has completed 51 annual nursing home surveys in the first five months of FY2025.
Witherspoon and Kalyanaraman outlined steps taken to reduce backlog: hiring and training nurse surveyors (13 positions authorized for FY25 were filled and 17 surveyors are in training), a focused nurse surveyor trainer to reduce certification time, use of CMS‑provided certified surveyors as contractors, and agreements with private contractor survey teams to clear intake work ahead of annual surveys. Kalyanaraman said the federal SMQT certification required for independent nursing home surveyors typically takes six to 12 months of training; that certification time and the limited national pool of certified surveyors constrain how quickly Maryland can scale up.
The agency said it expects it will take two to three years to clear the remaining backlog and that the pace depends on certification time, severity of investigations (which can require revisits), and federal contractor availability. Senators asked for facility‑level data and change‑of‑ownership inspection results; Witherspoon said since the start of 2024 OHCQ has done surveys on each change‑of‑ownership it encountered and agreed to provide violation details on specific private‑equity conversions under follow‑up requests from the committee.
No committee votes were recorded; OHCQ officials said they will provide requested facility‑level information to the committee.
