Skilled nursing facilities provide housing with medical, nursing, psychosocial, and rehabilitation services for persons who require 24-hour nursing supervision or need extensive assistance with everyday tasks. Some facilities provide both long-term care services as well as short-term rehabilitation (usually post-hospital stay). Some only provide short-term rehabilitation. They all provide meals, laundry, housekeeping, planned activities, assistance with dressing, feeding, bathing, and toileting. They also have social services support and medical services that can include wound care, ventilator care, and intravenous therapies
Skilled nursing facilities vary greatly, so take a complete tour and ask a lot of questions. Most importantly, READ EVERYTHING that you are asked to sign. If you observe something during a tour that you are not comfortable with, ask the director of nursing about it and come back at an unannounced time for a follow-up visit.
Skilled nursing facilities are licensed by the state and are required to undergo yearly evaluations. The results of these surveys are available on the website of the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment under Health Facilities.
There are four payment options available for skilled facilities:
- Private pay: Out-of-pocket or reimbursed by long-term care insurance.
- Medicare: Generally pays for 100% of first 20 days and roughly 80% of the next 80 days after an inpatient hospital admission (usually of three overnights or more) and a medical requirement for short-term rehabilitation.
- Medicaid: Federal/state program that requires financial and functional eligibility. Focus is usually on long-term care.
- Veterans benefits: These vary and may only apply to facilities that have VA contracts. Check with the facility or with the Veterans Administration office for more details. Assists veterans and their widows and can be combined with a private-pay option.
Questions to ask:
- Are the rooms private or semi-private?
- If the stay is for short-term rehab, will I be able to stay in long-term care if needed?
- What are the fees (usually charged by the day)?
- What do the fees include, and are there additional charges?
- Are they Medicare and/or Medicaid certified?
- What types of rehabilitation services are provided?
- Do they offer specialized dementia care?
- What types of activities are provided?
- How many beds does the facility have and what is the staffing ratio?
- Is smoking allowed?
- How do they ensure that high-quality care is being delivered?
- Are there support services for families?
Concerns about care in skilled nursing facilities can be referred to the Long-Term Care Ombudsman at (719) 301-6388. The ombudsman’s role is to respond to and investigate complaints regarding care issues in all licensed facilities. The ombudsman attempts to resolve issues on behalf of the resident and may, if appropriate, report serious incidents to an appropriate regulatory government agency.
Licensed nursing homes provide meals and housing along with medical, nursing, psychosocial, and rehabilitation services for individuals who require 24-hour nursing supervision or need extensive help with everyday tasks. Additional information is available at www.medicare.gov and https://cdphe.colorado.gov/health-facilities.
| FACILITY | # OF BEDS | APPROXIMATE PRICE PER DAY | MEDICARE CERTIFIED | MEDICAID CERTIFIED | VA CONTRACT | REHABILITATION ONLY | MULTIPLE CARE LEVELS |
| ADVANCED HEALTH CARE OF COLORADO SPRINGS (719) 418-4500 55 S Parkside Dr 80910 | 34 | Call for rates | Yes | No | No | Yes | No |
| BEAR CREEK SENIOR LIVING (719) 719-3379 2744 Grand Vista Cir 80904 | 40 | Call for rates | Yes | No | No | No | Yes |
| BROOKDALE SKYLINE (719) 370-4406 2365 Patriot Hghts 80904 | 52 | $282-363 | Yes | No | No | No | Yes |
| BRUCE MCCANDLESS VETERANS COMMUNITY LIVING CENTER AT FLORENCE (800) 283-2668 903 Moore Dr, Florence 81226 | 105 | $174-$308 | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes |
| CENTER AT CENTENNIAL, THE (719) 685-8888 3490 Centennial Blvd 80907 | 80 | $650 | Yes | No | No | Yes | No |
| CENTER AT CORDERA, THE (719) 522-2000 9208 Grand Cordera Pkwy 80924 | 80 | Call for rates | Yes | No | No | Yes | No |
| COLONIAL HEALTH AND REHABILITATION CENTER (719) 473-1105 1340 E Fillmore St 80907 | 78 | Call for rates | Yes | Yes | No | No | Yes |
| FALCON HEIGHTS HEALTH AND REHABILITATION CENTER (719) 471-7850 1795 Monterey Rd 80910 | 104 | $313-378 | Yes | Yes | No | No | Yes |
| FOREST RIDGE SENIOR LIVING AND REHABILITATION (719) 686-6500 16006 W Hwy 24, Woodland Park 80863 | 80 | $297+ | Yes | Yes | No | No | Yes |
| FOUNTAIN VIEW HEALTH AND REHABILITATION CENTER (719) 473-8000 2438 E Fountain Blvd 80910 | 90 | $313-$378 | Yes | Yes | No | No | Yes |
| GARDENS, THE (719) 635-2569 104 Lois Ln 80904 | 45 | $275-$305 | Yes | Yes | No | No | Yes |
| HEALTHCARE RESORT OF COLORADO SPRINGS (719) 632-7000 2818 Grand Vista Cir 80904 | 97 | $275-$325 | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| KIOWA HILLS HEALTH AND REHABILITATION CENTER (719) 636-5221 924 W Kiowa St 80905 | 80 | $313-378 | Yes | Yes | No | No | No |
| LIBERTY HEIGHTS HEALTH AND REHABILITATION CENTER (719) 481-5007 12205 Gunstock Dr 80921 | 42 | Call for rates | Yes | No | No | No | Yes |
| LIFE CARE CENTER OF COLORADO SPRINGS (719) 630-8888 2490 International Cir 80910 | 101 | $300-$345 | Yes | Yes | No | No | No |
| MEDALLION POST ACUTE REHABILITATION AND SENIOR LIVING (719) 381-1000 1719 E Bijou St 80909 | 60 | $372 | Yes | Yes | No | No | Yes |
| MOUNTAIN VIEW POST ACUTE (719) 576-8380 835 Tenderfoot Hill Rd 80906 | 159 | Call for rates | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes |
| MOUNT ST FRANCIS NURSING CENTER (719) 598-1336 7550 Assisi Hts 80919 | 110 | $330-$351 | Yes | Yes | No | No | No |
| PIKES PEAK POST ACUTE (719) 636-1676 2719 N Union Blvd 80909 | 209 | Call for rates | Yes | Yes | No | No | Yes |
| SPANISH PEAKS VETERANS COMMUNITY LIVING CENTER (719) 738-4565 23500 US Hwy 160, Walsenburg 81089 | 120 | $150-$262 | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No |
| SPRINGS VILLAGE CARE CENTER (719) 475-8686 110 W Van Buren St 80907 | 91 | Call for rates | Yes | Yes | No | No | No |
| SUNDANCE SKILLED NURSING AND REHAB (719) 632-7474 612 W Cucharras St 80904 | 68 | Call for rates | Yes | Yes | No | No | No |
| SUNNY VISTA LIVING CENTER (719) 471-8700 2445 E Cache La Poudre St 80909 | 116 | Call for rates | Yes | Yes | No | No | Yes |
| VETERANS COMMUNITY LIVING CENTER AT FITZSIMONS (720) 857-6400 1919 Quentin St, Aurora 80045 | 180 | Call for rates | Yes | Yes | No | No | No |
| VETERANS COMMUNITY LIVING CENTER AT HOMELAKE (888) 838-2687 3749 Sherman Ave, Monte Vista 81144 | 60 | $135-$262 | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes |
| VETERANS COMMUNITY LIVING CENTER AT RIFLE (800) 828-4580 851 E 5th St, Rifle 81650 | 89 | $173–$300 | Yes | Yes | No | No | No |