Health Complaints

Have a complaint about a food establishment, pool or hotel? Too many mosquitoes while you are walking your dog? Need a tick identified? The Health Department investigates many of these issues at businesses it permits in Alexandria. Read to learn more.

Page updated on March 27, 2024 at 2:46 PM

Contact

Alexandria Health Department
Division of Environmental Health
4850 Mark Center Drive, 4th Floor
Alexandria, VA 22311

Phone: 703.746.4910
Fax: 703.746.4919
Email: alexehhealth@vdh.virginia.gov

Business Hours:

Environmental Health

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Make a Health Complaint

To report improper or unsanitary health practices of food, pool or hotel businesses in the city, call 703.746.4910.

Be prepared to give the following:

An Environmental Health Specialist will investigate and report back to you. If you believe you got sick from eating at a restaurant, you can report it here.

Mosquitoes

Standing water can produce mosquitoes. General prevention tips are at alexandriava.gov/MosquitoControl. If you believe the problem is coming from your neighbor's property, talk with them and share this information.

If there is an area that has a large number of mosquitoes or an area with a lot of standing water for more than five days and it is not on your property, call 703.746.4910 and give the:

If you have a concern related to pesticide use, contact the Commonwealth of Virginia’s Office of Pesticide Services at 804.371.6560. This office staffs pesticide investigators to inspect and investigate possible pesticide misuse.

Smoking in a Restaurant

here are two regulations that address smoking in restaurants in the City of Alexandria:

These two regulations do not ban smoking in restaurants under all circumstances. If you see patrons smoking in a restaurant, ask to see the Health Department's notice regarding the Virginia Indoor Clean Air Act (if it is not visible). If there is no notice, you can then make a complaint using the information at the top of this page.

For more information about smoking in restaurants, visit Alexandria's food safety webpage.

Something Made Me Sick

If you are having a medical emergency, call 911 immediately. For poison help, call 800.222.1222.

Food can make you sick if not cooked or stored properly. Pools and spas can also make you sick if not disinfected properly. If you think that you became sick after visiting a permitted facility in Alexandria, call us at 703.746.4910. We will do a short interview to collect the:

Bed Bugs

Bed bugs are nuisance insects that are not known to spread disease. We will conduct bed bug investigations at permitted hotel facilities. Certain facilities with vulnerable or captive populations (like schools, nursing care facilities, jails, etc.) should contact us for guidance. Call 703.746.4910 and provide:

We do not investigate bed bug complaints at private residences or businesses. You can visit Alexandria's bed bug webpage for more information.

Rodents

We investigate complaints of rats or mice at places we permit, like restaurants, groceries, pools, hotel/motels, etc. If you have a complaint about rodents at other locations, contact the City's Rodent Control Program.

Medical Facilities

The Virginia Department of Health's Office of Licensure And Certification (OLC) investigates most complaints at:

Nursing Homes

The Health Department permits the food service, spas, and overnight guest lodging at nursing homes. If you have a complaint about ones of those areas, contact us using the information at the top of this page. For complaints about the staff, cleanliness or care of residents, visit the Virginia Department of Health's Office of Licensure And Certification (OLC) for more information.

Other Locations

Local health and sanitation codes vary from county to county. If you want to make a complaint about a business located outside the city limits, you must contact that location's health department directly. Use the U.S. Postal Service's webpage ( http://zip4.usps.com/zip4/welcome.jsp) to find out what office to call. For example, some businesses on Telegraph Road, Edsall Road and Richmond Highway may be in Fairfax County but have an Alexandria mailing address. Below is Fairfax and Arlington County's contact information.