Health & Safety Division

Table of Contents

  • Acute & Continuing Care Bureau

    • Adult & Special Services Unit
      The unit oversees several types of health facilities and programs, including:

      • Adult day services (ADS)

      • Assisted living programs (ALPs)

      • Child programs and services

      • Elder group homes (EGHs)

      • Intermediate care facilities for individuals with intellectual disabilities (ICF/IIDs)

      • Residential care facilities (RCFs)

    • Complaints Unit
      Handles complaints for the health facilities overseen by the Acute & Continuing Care and Long-Term Care bureaus

    • DCW Registry & HCEA Unit

      • Iowa Direct Care Worker (DCW) Registry for Certified Nursing Assistants (CNAs)

        • Health Care Employment Agency registration

    • Medicare Services Unit

      • Ambulatory surgical centers (ASCs)

        • Comprehensive outpatient rehab facilities (CORFs)

        • End-stage renal disease (ESRD) facilities (i.e., kidney dialysis)

        • Home health agencies (HHAs)

        • Hospices

        • Hospitals

        • OASIS education program

        • Portable X-ray

        • PPS units

        • Rehabilitation agencies

        • Rural health clinics (RHCs)

  • Fire Safety Bureau
    The bureau has regulatory oversight of and is responsible for the life safety code inspections for all federally qualified health care facilities in Iowa, including nursing homes, intermediate care facilities, ambulatory surgical centers, and hospitals. The bureau also enforces and regulates State of Iowa Fire Code and conducts fire inspections for jails and prisons, schools, assisted living programs, daycare facilities, Iowa HHS group homes, residential care facilities, and State-owned facilities. Additionally, the bureau has oversight for enforcement of aboveground storage tanks, fireworks and explosives, and investigations for complaints of Iowa fire safety code – to include some businesses and apartment complexes. Fire safety oversight was moved to DIAL from the State Fire Marshal’s office, however, the Fire Marshal still exists within the Department of Public Safety and works closely with local fire departments and law enforcement.

  • Food Safety Bureau
    The bureau is responsible for licensing and regulating food establishments and hotels. The bureau also regulates all gambling that occurs outside a casino, except Iowa Lottery products or online sports betting, which is managed by the Iowa Racing and Gaming Commission.

    • Inspections Unit (East)

    • Inspections Unit (West)

    • Licensing, Grants, & Response Unit

      • Amusement device licensing

        • Complaints about food and hotels

        • Food processing inquiries

        • Iowa Rapid Response Team (Manages non-illness complaints and emergencies at food businesses like fire, flood, sewage backup)

        • Licensing and renewals for:

          • Events

            • Farmers markets

            • Food processing plants and warehouses

            • Food service establishments

            • Home food processing establishments

            • Hotels and motels

            • Mobile food units (food trucks)

            • Retail food establishments

            • Temporary food establishments (food stands)

            • Unattended food establishments

            • Vending machines

        • Social and charitable gambling licensing

      • Operations Unit

        • Certificates of free sale or sanitation

          • Equipment and facility plan reviews

          • Food code inquiries

  • Long-Term Care Bureau
    Oversees licensing and inspections for nursing facilities (aka nursing homes or long-term care facilities)

    • Long-Term Care Unit I
      Facilities in the following counties: Cedar, Clinton, Dallas, Davis, Des Moines, Henry, Iowa, Jasper, Jefferson, Johnson, Lee, Louisa, Keokuk, Madison, Mahaska, Marion, Muscatine, Polk, Poweshiek, Scott, Van Buren, Warren, Wapello, Washington

    • Long-Term Care Unit II
      Facilities in the following counties: Black Hawk, Buena Vista, Butler, Calhoun, Cerro Gordo, Cherokee, Clay, Dickinson, Emmet, Floyd, Franklin, Grundy, Hamilton, Hancock, Hardin, Humboldt, Ida, Kossuth, Lyon, Marshall, Mitchell, O'Brien, Osceola, Palo Alto, Plymouth, Pocahontas, Sac, Sioux, Story, Webster, Winnebago, Woodbury, Worth, Wright

    • Long-Term Care Unit III
      Facilities in the following counties: Adair, Adams, Allamakee, Appanoose, Audubon, Benton, Boone, Bremer, Buchanan, Carroll, Cass, Chickasaw, Clarke, Clayton, Crawford, Decatur, Delaware, Dubuque, Fayette, Fremont, Greene, Guthrie, Harrison, Howard, Jackson, Jones, Linn, Lucas, Mills, Monona, Monroe, Montgomery, Page, Pottawattamie, Ringgold, Shelby, Tama, Taylor, Union, Wayne, Winneshiek