At 49 years old and with 120 beds, Westminster-Canterbury on Chesapeake Bay is one of the more established continuing care communities on Virginia Beach’s waterfront. The address, 3100 Shore Dr, puts it along the Chesapeake Bay in a somewhat walkable area (Walk Score 47) where a car is generally still needed. Ms. Julia Fretwell administers the facility; Mr. Ben Unkle is President and CEO. CARF accreditation is on the record.
Medicare drives 77% of new admissions, with a typical stay of 19 days. The overall average length of stay is 74 days. Those two figures together describe a facility that functions, in practical terms, as a short-stay rehabilitation hub. Occupancy sits at 58%, meaning 69 of 120 beds are currently in use.
The clinical staffing is substantial: total nursing hours run 6 hours 34 minutes per resident per day, with RN coverage at 55 minutes daily. Rehabilitation services are the stated clinical offering, built around a named program suite: Early Advantage, Make A Move, Pre-hab, At Home Services, the Birdsong Clinic, and Catering and Private Events. An Active Resident Council operates on-site.
State inspections have tended to center on emergency preparedness, staffing credentials, and care planning and documentation rather than direct resident care concerns.
Westminster-Canterbury accepts Medicare and private pay. The full spectrum of care types on the license, including independent living, assisted living, memory care, and home care, means the campus can theoretically accommodate a range of needs. It is a high-staffed, program-rich post-acute rehabilitation facility drawing predominantly short-stay Medicare patients, set inside a long-standing waterfront institution that has operated on this stretch of Shore Drive for nearly five decades.















