Best Memory Care in Huntington, WV

Located at 101 13th Street in Huntington, Heritage Care Center is a 160-bed skilled nursing facility operated by Pulaski Memorial Hospital in Cabell County. The facility serves predominantly Medicaid-supported residents (84.8% of census) across its skilled nursing, memory care, and hospice units. Administrative leadership includes Elizabeth Townsend and Executive Director Gretchen Vakiener, who brings over two decades of senior care experience.

A 1-star CMS overall rating frames the community’s regulatory performance. All four CMS sub-categories; health inspections, staffing levels, quality measures, and outcomes, carry 1-star designations.

Complaint investigations beginning in 2023 substantiated immediate jeopardy findings involving sexual abuse allegations and code status documentation failures. In March 2024, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services imposed a $92,000 federal civil money penalty for noncompliance. The most recent state inspection on September 30, 2025, identified deficiencies in basic activities of daily living assistance, pressure ulcer prevention and care, and sanitation of food-service equipment.

Nursing staffing averages 2 hours 52 minutes per resident daily, running 17% below the West Virginia state average. Weekend registered nurse presence drops to just 13 minutes per resident per day, 43% lower than the state average and critically insufficient for a community managing complex medical needs. Physical therapy services, essential for a facility serving short-term rehabilitation, average 2 minutes per resident daily, 33% below state norms.

Among long-stay residents, pressure ulcers affect 9.8% of those at high risk, nearly double the state average. Functional decline and activities of daily living decline affect roughly one in four long-stay residents.

Among short-stay Medicare patients undergoing rehabilitation, only 20% discharge with expected self-care ability intact. Newly initiated antipsychotic medications appear in 4% of short-stay admissions, four times the state rate and suggesting possible chemical management of behavioral issues rather than therapeutic intervention.

The facility maintains 98% occupancy in a 137-bed-average census, indicating strong community demand.

Amenities include private and semi-private accommodations with river views, on-site beauty and barber services, cable television, and respite care options. Specific programs include the Daybreak Program and Wellness Programs.

Heritage Care Center’s care model aligns with long-term Medicaid residents and short-term rehabilitation admissions, though its quality and clinical performance data suggest significant systemic challenges.

Paramount Senior Living at Cabell Midland is in Ona, West Virginia, an unincorporated community in Cabell County about 18.1 miles from Huntington’s city center. The facility sits at 100 Weatherholt Dr, with a Walk Score of 13, and the surrounding area is car-dependent; on-site transportation services are available for residents who need to get around. The 110-bed community operates at 75% occupancy and is administered by Jessica Treadway, with Adam Herndon as Executive Director. Paramount Health Holdings Group is the operating company.

The care model here is wide-ranging. Nursing home, assisted living, independent living, memory care, hospice care, and respite stays are all offered under one address. Named programs include Alzheimer’s/Dementia Care, Skilled Nursing/Rehab, Outpatient Rehab Therapy, and Personal Care/Assisted Living. Rehabilitation services, short-term rehab, and 24-hour staffing are confirmed in the structured data.

Floor plans are studios, with suites available in private or companion configurations, each with a full bath. On-site amenities include a café, fitness center, community dining room, private dining room, beauty/barbershop, and a large porch with gardens. Three meals are served daily, and the activities calendar covers social, educational, spiritual, and recreational programming. Pets are welcome, and emergency call response systems are installed in every suite.

West Virginia’s Department of Health and Human Resources, Office of Health Facility Licensure oversees inspections here, with reviews tending to cover staffing credentials, care planning, resident rights, and housekeeping.

At 110 beds and 75% occupied, Paramount Senior Living at Cabell Midland is a full-spectrum rural community in Cabell County that serves residents across the entire care continuum in a car-dependent setting with on-site transportation support.

Overview of Huntington Health and Rehabilitation Center

At 1720 17th St in Huntington, West Virginia, Huntington Health and Rehabilitation Center is an 186-bed mid-rise nursing home operated by Seventeenth Street Associates, LLC. Cabell Huntington Hospital is 0.13 miles away, essentially across the street, which matters practically for residents who need rapid hospital access. The surrounding area has a Walk Score of 45.

The facility runs at 97% occupancy with an average resident stay of 221 days, consistent with a community that handles both short-term rehabilitation and longer-term nursing care. The care lineup confirms nursing home services, memory care, and hospice care under one address. Short-term rehab and rehabilitation services are confirmed on-site, and 24-hour staffing is in place.

Medicare, Medicaid, and private pay are all accepted. Pets are welcome, and transportation and fitness/recreation services are available.

CMS staffing data places registered nurse hours at 24 minutes per resident per day and total nursing hours at 3 hours 24 minutes. These are the reported figures; families doing serious placement research should treat them as one data point among several when assessing care coverage.

West Virginia’s Department of Health and Human Resources, Office of Health Facility Licensure, oversees inspections here, with reviews tending to address medication management, fire safety systems, emergency preparedness, care planning, and housekeeping practices.

At 186 beds, 97% occupied, with hospital access under a tenth of a mile away and a full range of payment options, Huntington Health and Rehabilitation Center is a high-demand, centrally located nursing home in a city where skilled nursing options are limited.

Overview of Braley Care Homes Memory Care Facility

With sixteen beds, of which fifteen are occupied, Braley Care Homes Memory Care Facility runs at 94% occupancy; for a community this size that means it is nearly always full. The facility sits at 6192 US-60 in the Lexington Estates neighborhood of Hurricane, West Virginia, operated and administered by Chris Braley under the Braley Care Homes, Inc. banner.

The care model is narrowly defined: memory care and assisted living, with a specific focus on Alzheimer’s and dementia. Nursing services run around the clock. The grounds include an outdoor courtyard and a secured perimeter, both standard and decision-relevant features for a memory care setting. Personalized care activities are part of the daily program.

This is a state-licensed Assisted Living Residence, not a CMS-certified facility. West Virginia regulates these communities separately from the federal system governing nursing homes and skilled nursing facilities, and Medicare and Medicaid don’t apply here. State inspections have tended to cover medication management, care planning and documentation, and housekeeping and upkeep.

Walk Score 6 is functionally zero. The US-60 location requires a car for everything. Visitors and staff drive; the surrounding area offers no walkable options.

At 16 beds with a secured environment and a single-minded focus on memory care, Braley Care Homes represents the small, residential end of the dementia care spectrum in West Virginia’s Putnam County corridor.