Best Nursing Homes in New Jersey

Overview of Complete Care at Madison, LLC

Complete Care at Madison runs 167 skilled nursing beds in Matawan, a walkable stretch of central Jersey that’s not quite one region or the other. Yehuda Smoke administers the place, which focuses on post-acute rehab and skilled nursing. The facility sits at 71% occupancy (118 beds filled out of 167), so there’s a steady flow of people coming through, mostly folks recovering short-term from surgery or acute illness.

The specialized programs make sense for what they do: orthopedic and post-surgical rehab, cardiac services, neuro and stroke recovery, pulmonary care, wound management, bariatric care. They staff around the clock for short-term rehab and respite. Most residents stay about 127 days on average. Therapy, discharge planning, and clinical management for things like managing hypertension or diabetes during recovery all happen in-house.

Nursing staffing comes to 3 hours 45 minutes per resident per day. That’s broken down into 29 minutes of RN time, 57 minutes of LPN/LVN, and 2 hours 8 minutes from CNAs. Physical therapy is sparse at 2 minutes per resident daily, which is notable given the rehab emphasis.

The inspection record over 15 years shows a pattern that doesn’t flatten out. Deficiencies keep showing up in the same categories: emergency preparedness, life safety compliance, care planning, medication administration, fire safety. Complaints have substantiated medication handling issues and gaps in care planning. It reads like the facility struggles to get ahead of regulatory compliance problems and keep them fixed.

Complete Care at Madison takes Medicare, Medicaid, and private pay. The place is built for older adults who need skilled nursing or short-term rehab after hospitalization. The low physical therapy hours and overall staffing constraints probably limit how intensive the rehab support can be, though.

Overview of Plaza Healthcare & Rehabilitation Center

Plaza Healthcare & Rehabilitation Center is a 128-bed skilled nursing home at 456 Rahway Avenue in Elizabeth, New Jersey. Owned by Nathan Fishman, the facility accepts Medicare, Medicaid, and private pay. For visitors, the surrounding neighborhood has a walkability score of 81 out of 100, which means the area is highly pedestrian-friendly, making it simple to complete errands or visit shops on foot without a car.

The building operates at a 69 percent occupancy rate, with residents staying for an average of 219 days. This duration reflects an ongoing caseload split between long-term skilled care and short-term recovery. Around-the-clock staffing provides an average of 4 hours and 12 minutes of nursing care per resident each day, which includes 40 minutes from registered nurses and just over 2 hours from nurse aides. This care team administers sub-acute rehabilitation, memory care for Alzheimer’s and dementia, palliative care, private duty nursing, and respite care.

Interested individuals comparing regional care facilities or long-term nursing setups can use these state regulatory filings to assess the property’s operational background. The public documents outline a highly walkable city campus that provides a restaurant-style dining setup, private bathrooms, and higher-than-average daily nursing hours, balanced against historical procedural fixes in emergency and infection protocols.

Overview of Lakeland Nursing & Rehab

Lakeland Nursing & Rehab is a 105-bed skilled nursing and rehabilitation facility at 3680 Lakeland Lane in Jackson, Hinds County, Mississippi, operated by Amanda Winfield. The community serves residents stepping down from acute care or managing chronic conditions that require round-the-clock nursing; a typical average stay runs about 90 days. With occupancy at 86%, the facility maintains steady local demand.

Therapy services are available on-site: physical, occupational, and speech therapy are provided to residents recovering from surgery or managing movement and communication challenges. Licensed staff manage medication and personal care around the clock. Skilled nursing covers the full range of post-acute needs, from orthopedic recovery to neurological conditions. Total nursing hours average 4 hours 22 minutes per resident per day, a hair above Mississippi’s state average of 4 hours 20 minutes.

The staffing model includes 9 registered nurses, 23 licensed practical nurses, and 41 certified nursing aides, meaning the bulk of daily resident contact flows through aides, who spend about 2 hours 22 minutes per resident per day. Registered nurse presence is leaner: just 24 minutes daily on weekdays and only 15 minutes on weekends, compared to state averages of 38 minutes and 22 minutes, respectively.

The facility accepts Medicaid, Medicare, and private-pay funding, covering the main insurance pathways families use. Jackson’s neighborhood scores 33 on the Walk Score scale; walkable enough for errands nearby, but most trips still require a car. The community operates as part of a broader management group running the Chadwick and Manhattan Center in the same city.

Across seven years of data, 89 deficiencies were documented, nearly double Mississippi’s average of 45. The deficiency profile centers on resident rights (32% of all citations), infection control, and quality-of-life shortfalls. Staffing adequacy has been a recurring concern; adequate total nursing hours masked a low RN-to-resident ratio and sparse weekend coverage. The November 2025 inspection documented compliance with no new deficiencies, suggesting that corrective actions submitted after prior findings have taken effect.

Critical findings and serious violations were absent across all inspections; 25 moderate citations comprise the entire record. The facility earns a 2-star overall CMS rating, pulled down chiefly by a 1-star health inspection rating and 1-star staffing rating; both below state norms.

Lakeland serves residents who fit the post-acute and chronic nursing care model: older adults stepping out of hospitals after surgery or managing complex medical conditions within a structured, staffed setting.

Trenton Gardens is a 215-bed skilled nursing facility in downtown Trenton, New Jersey. It takes Medicare, Medicaid, and private pay patients. Most residents come for short-term post-acute rehab after surgery or acute illness, though some need longer-term skilled nursing care. The neighborhood’s Walk Score of 74 means families can get around reasonably well without a car.

Only 47 of 215 beds are occupied. The average resident stays about 126 days, which makes sense for a facility focused on post-acute rehab rather than long-term placements.

Short-term rehab, stroke recovery, dementia and Alzheimer’s care, tracheostomy management, palliative and hospice support. Twenty-four-hour nursing coverage means residents can transition between care levels without getting shipped to different facilities.

Registered nurses average 24 minutes per resident daily. Total nursing care across all staff comes to 3 hours and 43 minutes per resident. Nurse aides provide the bulk of that at 2 hours and 1 minute, with LPNs and LVNs adding 46 minutes. So this is an aide-heavy model, which is standard but worth noting.

An in-house kitchen handles food. Meals are chef-prepared and supposedly adapt to whatever dietary needs residents have, including plant-based or therapeutic restrictions.

Fifteen years of inspection data show chronic, recurring issues. State surveyors consistently document the same deficiencies: understaffing, inadequate supervision, infection control problems, and environmental maintenance failures. Multiple inspections have hit immediate jeopardy status because of supervision and safety lapses.

The facility submits corrective action plans. Then the same problems show up again in the next inspection. That cycle repeats. This is a facility with serious compliance issues that corrective actions haven’t resolved.

Overview of New Community Extended Care Facility

New Community Extended Care Facility is a 180-bed nursing home on South Orange Avenue in Newark that takes Medicare, Medicaid, and private pay. Right now it’s running at 48% occupancy, so there are 86 residents spread across single and double rooms. The neighborhood scores 81 on Walk Score, which means people can actually walk to what they need instead of being isolated on a campus somewhere.

The facility staffs nurses and aides around the clock, clocking in at about 3 hours and 44 minutes of nursing time per resident each day. There’s a separate unit for Alzheimer’s and dementia, plus rehab services for people coming out of the hospital or recovering from surgery. So whether someone’s rebuilding function after a stroke or managing cognitive decline, there’s structured therapy and programming that matches what they actually need.

Food gets made fresh daily by their chef, and it’s nutritionally balanced with seasonal produce worked in. The activity calendar is consistent. Arts, music, bingo, group discussions, barbecues, exercise programs. There’s a library, game room, activity spaces, a courtyard outside, and the usual stuff in the rooms.

The inspection record tells you the survey in November 2025 had zero deficiencies. Before that, inspections kept flagging the same problems: not enough staff, infection control gaps, and not telling families when something changed with a resident’s health or room assignment. But that pattern has actually shifted, and the record shows improvement.

This facility operates at nursing home level, which means it handles both short-term rehab patients and people with advancing dementia who need stability and medical oversight in a neighborhood where they’re not locked away.

Excel Care at Wayne operates a 120-bed nursing home in Wayne, New Jersey, focused primarily on short-term rehabilitation and acute skilled care. The address is 296 Hamburg Turnpike; the neighborhood is car-dependent (Walk Score 24), so you’ll need transportation to move around for appointments or visits. At 87% occupancy, the facility maintains fairly consistent census, with residents staying an average of about 129 days.

The staffing configuration provides approximately 3 hours of daily nursing care per resident. That breaks down to registered nurses, nurse aides, and licensed practical nurses working 24-hour rotations, which means continuous coverage for the acute medical needs that come with the residents the facility serves. The therapy wing is substantial and equipped with modern rehabilitation technology.

What sets Excel Care apart is the breadth of its clinical programming. It’s not a general skilled nursing facility; it’s built around acute recovery and specialized conditions. Short-term patients come for post-operative rehabilitation following joint replacement, stroke, or cardiac procedures. Longer-stay residents may be managing conditions that require closer medical oversight: hemodialysis-dependent kidney disease, COPD exacerbations, Parkinson’s or multiple sclerosis, complex wound management, bariatric care.

The facility offers hospice and palliative services for those reaching end-of-life stages. There’s also pain management support and dedicated dementia programming, though the profile doesn’t detail how segregated or distinct that program is.

Daily life includes organized activities and community events, which is a given, though the profile lacks specifics about what those actually look like.

The facility accepts Medicare, Medicaid, and private pay. No out-of-pocket pricing is published on their profile.

State inspections since 2011 reveal a recurring pattern: documentation and supervision gaps, especially around risk mitigation for residents prone to wandering or elopement, and inconsistencies in care execution such as medication administration and incontinence management. Life safety compliance involving fire systems and electrical maintenance has also come up. The facility has attempted corrective actions in response, though the pattern hasn’t fully resolved. This is a facility with genuine clinical depth and infrastructure, but one where compliance monitoring suggests you’d want to review the latest state inspection data yourself before placement.

Overview of Meadowbrook Respiratory and Nursing Center

Meadowbrook Respiratory and Nursing Center is a 130-bed nursing home located at 38 Freneau Avenue in Matawan, New Jersey. Controlled by owner Mw Snf Operations Holdings, the facility provides coverage pathways through Medicare, Medicaid, and private pay. For visitors, the surrounding neighborhood offers an asset with a walkability score of 76 out of 100, indicating that local shops, services, and transit options are within easy walking distance.

The facility maintains an average occupancy level of 78 percent, with individual stays lasting roughly 82 days on average. This duration reveals a functional balance between standard long-term care and short-term post-acute rehabilitation. To support this care load, the 24-hour clinical crew provides an average of 4 hours and 17 minutes of nursing care per resident each day using a combined staff of registered nurses, licensed practical nurses, and nurse aides. This team runs specialized mechanical ventilator units for respiratory and cardiac needs alongside subacute care and respite stays.

Historical survey files from state health departments show past citations pointing to themes in infection control, medication handling, staffing oversight, paperwork accuracy, and emergency preparedness. Subsequent reviews demonstrate an upward trend in performance as the facility implemented corrective actions. Across the building’s broader long-term regulatory record, the center holds a citations-per-inspection rate of zero.

Interested individuals looking into regional clinical options or ventilator rehabilitation programs can use these state regulatory filings to assess the property’s operational background. The public documents outline a highly walkable small-town campus that features private and semi-private suites, outdoor spaces with a courtyard gazebo, an on-site hair salon, and religious services, balanced against completed fixes in past care documentation and infection tracking.

Overview of Alaris Health at Cedar Grove

Alaris Health at Cedar Grove is a 170-bed nursing home owned and operated by CG Healthcare LLC. The facility maintains an average occupancy level around 83 percent, managing a 107-day typical stay that signals a balance of long-term nursing care and short-term post-acute rehabilitation. Financial operations process standard private-pay, Medicare, and Medicaid options. Geographically, the property features a walkability score of 56 out of 100, which means visiting guests can manage some standard local errands on foot while most outings will require a vehicle.

Daily nursing rosters confirm that the building provides an impressive average of 6 hours and 6 minutes of direct care per resident each day, with registered nurses handling 57 minutes and nurse aides covering 3 hours and 2 minutes of the floor. This heavy care presence backs up a wide range of clinical programs, including on-site dialysis, high-flow ventilator services, total parenteral nutrition (TPN), stroke recovery, and cardiac care.

Prospective representatives evaluating area subacute recovery options or heavy long-term clinical placements can examine these state registries to weigh the provider’s capabilities. The public documentation describes an active, well-staffed nursing environment that features extensive medical equipment and notable daily caregiver hours, balanced against historical regulatory corrections.

Overview of Alaris Health at West Orange

Alaris Health at West Orange is a 120-bed nursing home on Brook End Drive in West Orange, New Jersey. Managed by administrator Olga Shneyderman and operated by St Cloud Operations LLC, the facility accepts funding through Medicare, Medicaid, and private pay. For visitors, the surrounding suburban area scores 50 out of 100 for walkability, which means the location is moderately pedestrian-friendly, with some errands achievable on foot and others requiring a vehicle.

Short-term recovery stays average about 74 days, and the building frequently operates at its full bed capacity. This shorter timeframe highlights an emphasis on transitional, post-acute care and therapies rather than permanent placement. To manage this clinical load, round-the-clock staffing delivers an average of 4 hours and 47 minutes of direct nursing care per resident each day. This care time breaks down into 46 minutes from registered nurses, 30 minutes from licensed practical nurses, and 2 hours and 23 minutes from nurse aides, who coordinate general rehabilitation alongside specialized high-flow ventilator support, total parenteral nutrition (TPN), renal treatments, stroke care, memory care, and hospice.

Official evaluation files from state health departments show that inspections have frequently flagged issues related to resident skin integrity monitoring, general care protocols, environmental safety, documentation accuracy, and infection control. When reviewing the facility’s broad regulatory dataset, the center maintains an overall citations-per-inspection rate of zero.

Prospective representatives evaluating area nursing options or short-term therapy placements can use these state regulatory filings to assess the property’s operational background. The public documents outline a moderately walkable suburban campus that provides continuous clinical staffing and specialized high-flow ventilator programs, balanced against historical progress in skin integrity monitoring, safety protocols, and documentation tracking.

Overview of Complete Care at Wayne Hills Rehab & Resp Center

Complete Care At Wayne Hills Rehab & Resp Center operates as a 120-bed facility providing post-acute rehabilitation, skilled nursing, and assisted living on the campus located at 130 Terhune Drive in Packanack Lake, Wayne. Mr. Raphoel Muller leads the operation as administrator; the parent company is Complete Care At Lakeview LLC.

Over the past seven years, state inspectors have made twelve visits. The record shows 36 documented deficiencies distributed across seven of those cycles, with five inspections resulting in no findings. The November 2025 inspection centered on state-mandated privacy disclosures. This track record is straightforward: some issues, corrective responses, intermittent clean visits. Not exceptional, not alarming, simply how most mid-sized facilities cycle through compliance.

The facility maintains 71% occupancy. That’s 85 residents occupying 120 beds. It’s not packed, not sparse; a stable operational middle ground suggesting neither desperate turnover nor waiting lists.

The location is car-dependent (Walk Score 24). You’ll need transportation to reach services beyond the immediate grounds, though that’s standard for suburban northern New Jersey. The Packanack Lake neighborhood is residential, not walkable.

Services align with what the facility’s license allows: post-acute rehab for people stepping down from hospitalization, skilled nursing for ongoing medical needs, and assisted living for residents managing daily activities with support.

Complete Care At Wayne Hills fits the profile of a functioning, established facility. For families needing rehabilitation or nursing care in this area, it’s a place worth visiting directly, understanding its baseline performance, and determining whether its services and setting align with what you’re looking for.