Page 10 of Best Nursing Homes in Iowa

Overview of Good Samaritan Society – Forest City

Good Samaritan Society – Forest City is a 43-bed skilled nursing facility at 606 South Seventh Street in Forest City, Iowa. Administered by Holly Brink and operated as a non-profit, church-related corporation, the center serves Winnebago County with a clinical continuum that includes short-term rehabilitation, memory care, and hospice services. The campus currently maintains an occupancy rate of 79%, with an average daily census of 34 residents.

State and federal oversight currently assigns the facility a 4-star overall rating, which signifies performance categorized as “Above Average”. Regulatory reports indicate a citations-per-inspection rate of 2.75, with the most recent complaint investigation in October 2025 resulting in zero deficiencies. While the center maintains a solid health inspection tier, the record includes an August 2025 dependent adult abuse finding involving a former staff member and a 2024 fine of $8,824 for care planning and food safety violations.

Professional care is guided by a staffing model that provides 3 hours 29 minutes of daily nursing time per resident. Registered Nurse (RN) presence is a notable metric, as the 48 minutes of daily RN time performs 9% above the Iowa state average. Medical services coordinate physical, occupational, and speech therapy alongside specialized wound care and respiratory support. The facility reports a 45.8% nursing staff turnover rate, which is consistent with the state mean.

The campus environment provides a residential atmosphere featuring an arts room, library, and dedicated garden spaces. Social life is facilitated through organized movie nights, music programs, and 24-hour supervision to support resident safety. Nutritional support includes meal plans tailored to individual dietary needs, and the community is located near essential services like Mercy Family Clinic. For those needing mobility assistance, the facility offers transportation services to explore the surrounding Forest City area.

Interested individuals should evaluate the current bedside care standards and quality improvement initiatives during an on-site visit. It is advisable to ask the administrator for specific details regarding the corrective actions implemented after the 2024 and 2025 citations to ensure that staffing and safety protocols meet the resident’s specific recovery or long-term care goals.

Overview of Elm Crest Senior Living Community

Committed to enhancing seniors’ quality of life, Elm Crest Senior Living Community is a distinct senior living community set in the harmonious city of Harlan, IA, providing a wide array of living options such as assisted living, independent living, memory care, health center, and rehabilitation therapy services. The community doubles its efforts to foster a warm and welcoming environment for seniors to make the most out of their days in beautifully designed and cozy one-bedroom and two-bedroom apartments. Receive top-notch care and support from a reliable and highly qualified team and live a glorious retirement without worries with Elm Crest.

With over 65 years of experience in helping seniors, Elm Crest continuously provides the finest experience to create wonderful moments. Moreover, the community meticulously crafts care plans that best fit residents’ unique needs and preferences to ensure they are well-cared for. Surrounded by refreshing spaces and placed near hospitals, Elm Crest provides easy access to medical needs and the utmost comfort that seniors deserve.

Overview of Valley View Village

Valley View Village 2571 is a high-standard nursing home in Des Moines, IA, that offers a wide range of care options, from independent living to rehabilitation. Promoting a welcoming environment, the community strives to maintain connections for older adults’ happiness and wellness. Delicious dining, recreational activities, and pet-friendly spaces are among the community’s unique features that make it an ideal retirement destination. With its dedication to residents’ welfare, personalized care plans are crafted to meet their healthcare needs and lifestyle preferences.

Hobby groups, fun excursions, and spiritual activities are just some of the activities that residents can join for leisure and wellness. The community also features a variety of amenities, including a library, well-maintained gardens, and walking paths, dedicated to enriching residents’ living experiences. As a community of its own, Valley View Village has all the local amenities needed for residents’ needs and leisure. This retirement community is one of Iowa’s finest choices for senior living, especially for its wide range of care options and extensive amenities.

Arbor Springs in West Des Moines, Iowa, is a highly regarded facility known for its exceptional care, particularly for individuals with dementia. It prides itself on fostering a positive and supportive environment. Situated in a residential area, this facility employs a Montessori approach to care, which has received praise from reviews. Arbor Springs offers a range of amenities, including a community center, therapy room, and a beauty salon, ensuring that residents have access to essential services.
The facility boasts inviting features like a home-like dining room, cozy interior spaces, and intimate common areas. Additionally, Arbor Springs has implemented innovative touches such as memory boxes outside individual rooms, aiding in the identification of residents’ spaces. The dedication to providing fresh air and well-landscaped surroundings contributes to the overall well-being of the residents. Arbor Springs offers a spectrum of care, encompassing memory care options, including private homes, and also provides services like long-term care, short-term rehabilitation, and respite care, catering to the diverse needs of its residents.

Dedicated to providing high-quality senior living, Southern Hills Specialty Care in West Lakes Parkway, West Des Moines, IA, is a reliable senior living community that offers a wide range of care services. These include assisted living, memory care, skilled care, therapy services, wound care management, and hospice. With a team of compassionate and highly skilled professionals delivering top-tier care and assistance around the clock, seniors can thrive and live their lives to the fullest.

A variety of planned activities and engaging programs are also provided to ensure residents have fun and meet friends. Special diets are also accommodated to ensure health needs and cravings are met through delicious and nutritious meals. Southern Hills Specialty Care is great for seniors looking to make the most out of their best years.

Overview of Ossian Care Center

A 46-bed skilled nursing and rehabilitation home in Ossian, Iowa, is Ossian Care Center. It caters to residents needing post-acute recovery, ongoing nursing care, or memory support. Ossian Senior Hospice Incorporated-owned and Rachael Marshall-administered, the facility accepts Medicare, Medicaid, and private pay, providing flexible ways for families to navigate care financing. It’s near full occupancy at 80 percent, and residents stay on average about 242 days, a span reflecting short-term rehab stays and longer-term residency.

The home is built around rehabilitation services, focusing on short-term rehab for occupants returning from hospital stays. Staffing is a visible strength: the facility provides 5 hours 15 minutes of total nursing care per resident day, meaningfully above many comparable homes. That staffing level breaks down to 3 hours 10 minutes of attentive certified nurse aide time per resident daily, along with contributions from licensed practical nurses and registered nurses. The higher aide hours per resident translate to more direct help with bathing, dressing, meals, and daily activities. Located in Ossian, the neighborhood scores 38 for walkability, meaning some errands are walkable, though most outings need a car. This layout is typical of rural Iowa communities and suits families who don’t rely on pedestrian access. Ossian Care Center offers assisted living, memory care, and skilled nursing, so it can serve residents across different care needs in one setting.

State inspectors have centered their attention on medication management, kitchen sanitation, and care coordination practices. The facility has worked to address such areas and maintain compliance with state standards.

For families touring the home, it’s worth asking how the facility coordinates care among its different care levels and what programs support each resident’s recovery or daily engagement. Plus, it fits families who don’t depend on pedestrian access.

Overview of Hawkeye Care Center Dubuque

Hawkeye Care Center Dubuque manages an 80-bed medical campus on Pennsylvania Avenue under the guidance of administrator Tracey Long. The community runs with a stable occupancy rate near 89 percent, balancing public program coverage via Medicare and Medicaid with traditional private accounts. Admissions track to an average length of stay around 87 days, reflecting a fluid daily mix of transitional, post-hospital physical therapy patients and individuals requiring ongoing nursing supervision.

Clinical floor procedures provide an average of 4 hours and 18 minutes of daily direct care per resident. Registered nurses, licensed practical nurses, and certified nursing aides manage this 24-hour medical schedule to administer on-site speech, occupational, and physical therapies alongside specialized respite and palliative care treatments. For daily programming, the building contains a dedicated therapy gym, a courtyard, and a customized dining system, while the surrounding neighborhood records a walkability score of 52 out of 100, which means visiting guests can manage a handful of regional errands on foot.

Recent health assessments from state oversight entities focused on internal compliance patterns, highlighting quality reviews of standard infection prevention techniques and clinical care chart updates. Administrative coordinators use these regular health survey documents to update floor protocols and align continuing staff training logs with current safety regulations.

Prospective residents can connect with the admissions department to check on immediate room availability, look over the current therapy schedules, or arrange a time to visit the common areas.

Overview of Clearview Home

Clearview Home delivers long-term medical housing and short-term post-acute therapy at 406 West Washington Street in Mount Ayr, Iowa. Managed by administrator Gary Routh, the 82-bed facility functions with a consistent occupancy rate of 89 percent. Billing processes adapt to diverse customer financial models, balancing regular out-of-pocket payments with standard state Medicaid and federal Medicare network coverages. Stays average 196 days per individual, establishing a daily census where brief convalescent turnarounds are integrated with ongoing skilled nursing placements.

Floor nursing schedules distribute a round-the-clock shift routine providing an average of 3 hours and 45 minutes of direct hands-on care per resident daily. Registered nurses, licensed practical nurses, and certified nursing assistants manage these floor hours to coordinate specialized intermediate therapy tracks, respite strategies, and a dedicated memory care environment for Alzheimer’s and dementia patients. Basic internal features include a barber shop, specialized dietary plans, and nutrition counseling, while the surrounding town environment records a walkability score of 52 out of 100, indicating that while visitors can navigate a few common tasks on foot, everyday travel relies on local driving.

Public health inspections executed by the Iowa Department of Inspections, Appeals, and Licensing track internal quality patterns, certifying that the facility operates in substantial compliance with state rules. Local management uses historical corrective updates on care delivery and resident safeguarding systems to shape current employee training modules and adjust daily clinical workflows.

Prospective residents can call the administrative office to double-check active room availability, ask about specialized dietary options, or set up a time to view the dedicated memory care units. The desk coordinators can also assist with medical coverage, cross-referencing to detail how personal funds, private insurance policies, or state health benefits apply to monthly statements.

Overview of Westhaven Community

Westhaven Community is a 40-bed nonprofit skilled nursing facility in Boone, Iowa, offering independent living, assisted living, and skilled care. The community is operated as a ministry of the Evangelical Free Church and accepts Medicare, Medicaid, and private pay.

Across inspections since 2017, the facility has averaged approximately 2 deficiencies per year — 55% below the Iowa average of 4.4 — a strong long-term compliance picture. That record includes two notable exceptions: a 2023 inspection that found an Immediate Jeopardy citation for failure to re-evaluate a resident’s advance directives and code status.

A separate complaint investigation that year in which a resident sustained a fatal fall and staff were cited for inadequate supervision. The April 2025 standard inspection recorded 8 deficiencies covering medication management, infection control, and respiratory care. The most recent visit, a September 2025 complaint investigation, found no regulatory issues.

CMS rates Westhaven 4 stars overall, with staffing hours 34.8% above the Iowa average — nurse staffing averaging 5 hours and 20 minutes per resident per day places the community 24th out of 241 Iowa skilled nursing facilities. Occupancy is significantly below the state average at 43%, indicating current availability.

The on-site salon is the one amenity listed on the profile; the facility’s broader lifestyle programming is not detailed on the page.

Westhaven Community is best studied for residents seeking independent, assisted, or skilled nursing care in a small, faith-affiliated residential setting in Boone County, with immediate availability across bed types. However, families should review the facility’s prior Immediate Jeopardy finding and fall-related complaint history.

Overview of Zearing Health Care

Averaging an extended length of stay of 238 days, Zearing Health Care is a 40-bed skilled nursing facility that provides long-term nursing, dementia care, semi-independent living, hospice, and respite options. The property maintains a steady 78% occupancy rate, which matches regional baselines, and relies on a resident population made up of Medicaid (64%), private-pay (25%), and Medicare (11%) recipients. Business records indicate stable financial development, showing a turnaround from prior losses to a 3.5% profit margin and an $89.6 thousand net profit, with the operator channeling a heavy 61.6% of general revenue straight into personnel payroll.

State health department logs document deep daily caregiver staffing and remarkable permanent resident clinical outcomes alongside a recent cluster of employee conduct citations. Direct nursing care lines deliver an average of 4 hours and 33 minutes per resident daily, with weekend registered nurse coverage running 43% ahead of the Iowa state baseline. This intensive care matches near-flawless permanent resident charts, which document zero instances of major injury falls, zero urinary tract infections, zero pressure ulcers, and zero reported cases of depression.

On the regulatory side, the property averages 3.9 citations per year and carries zero federal financial fines over the past three years. While standard inspections in late 2024 and late 2025 came back completely clean, reviews between February and August 2025 substantiated allegations of staff verbal abuse and late reporting, resulting in worker suspensions. A subsequent January 2026 inspection logged three minor points regarding psychotropic medication consent forms, localized fall-risk care plans, and basic kitchen glove hygiene.

Prospective residents seeking a small, long-term care environment with deep daily caregiver hours can analyze these state registry updates to weigh the facility’s baseline. Public records verify that the building achieves standout medical prevention outcomes and maintains heavy daily staffing presence, balanced against recent employee retraining and administrative charting corrections.