The nine worst-rated Washington nursing homes, according to the government. Take a look

Shaun Goodwin, Patrick McCreless
·8 min read

As the baby boomer generation ages, the need for more nursing home care continues to grow. In Washington state, quality varies among such homes.

The U.S. is estimated to have more than 70 million baby boomers, born from 1946 to 1964. By 2030, all of them will be at least 65 years old, U.S. census data shows.

But that’s not all. With better health care increasing lifespans and birth rates dropping among young women, older adults could outnumber children under 18 years old for the first time in U.S. history by 2034, the Census Bureau projects.

The need for more and better quality nursing home care will become increasingly important in coming years. So we took a look at publicly-ranked facilities in Washington state.

Based on the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services’ five-star rating system for nursing homes, of the 199 homes examined in Washington, 31, or about 15.6%, have the worst one-star rating, and one has had so many violations that it isn’t rated at all. Of the 199 examined, 26 have been cited for abuse.

Another 44 nursing homes have the highest five-star rating. Two don’t have a rating because they are newly certified, with less than 12 to 15 months of data available.

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services’ star rating system is based on staffing, health inspections and quality measures. Most nursing homes in the U.S. are included the star rating system, given that the government examines all facilities that accept payments from Medicaid and Medicare.

However, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services note that the rating system should not guide a decision on which nursing homes are best for a particular person. It also notes that the rating system cannot address all of the important considerations into making a decision, such as the extent to which specialty care is provided and how easy it will be for family members to visit.

President Joe Biden announced new steps to improve nursing home quality in late 2022, including offering more resources to support well-paid union jobs in nursing home care, along with more vigorous enforcement for the worst-performing nursing homes — specifically ones in the Special Focus Facilities Program. The program already provides more frequent inspections.

Only one Washington state nursing home is in the program: St. Francis of Bellingham at 3121 Squalicum Parkway in Bellingham. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services’ website said that it “is not rated due to a series of serious quality issues. This nursing home is subject to more frequent inspections, escalating penalties and potential termination from Medicare and Medicaid.”

Below is a complete list of the 32 worst-rated Washington nursing homes, followed by a list of the 44 best-rated homes, as of Jan. 31. For more details on each home’s rating, click here.

Worst-rated nursing homes

  1. Arcadia Healthcare - Parkside — 308 W. Emma, Union Gap

  2. Arcadia Healthcare - Renton — 80 SW. Second St., Renton

  3. Arcadia Healthcare - Talbot — 4430 Talbot Road S., Renton

  4. Auburn Post Acute — 414 17th SE., Auburn

  5. Avalon Care Center - Federal Way — 135 S. 336th St., Federal Way

  6. Avalon Care Center - Pullman — NW. 1310 Deane, Pullman

  7. Avamere Heritage Rehabilitation of Tacoma — 7411 Pacific Ave., Tacoma

  8. Bremerton Convalescent & Rehabilitation Center — 2701 Clare Ave., Bremerton

  9. Colville Tribal Convalescent C — 1 Convalescent Center Blvd., Nespelem

  10. Crestwood Health and Rehabilitation Center — 1116 E. Lauridsen Blvd., Port Angeles

  11. Enumclaw Health & Rehab Center — 2323 Jensen St., Enumclaw

  12. Everett Center — 1919 112th St. SW., Everett

  13. Fir Lane Health and Rehab Center — 2430 N. 13th St., Shelton

  14. Forest Ridge Health & Rehab — 140 S. Marion Ave., Bremerton

  15. Foss Home & Village — 13023 Greenwood Ave. N., Seattle

  16. Garden Village (cited for abuse) — 206 S. 10th Ave., Yakima

  17. Good Samaritan Society - Stafholt (cited for abuse) — 456 C St., Blaine

  18. Hallmark Manor — 32300 First Ave. S, Federal Way

  19. Heartwood Extended Healthcare — 1649 E. 72nd, Tacoma

  20. Life Care Center of Richland (cited for abuse) — 44 Goethals Drive, Richland

  21. Linden Grove Health Care Center — 400 29th St. NE., Puyallup

  22. North Auburn Rehab & Health Center — 2830 I St. NE., Auburn

  23. North Bend Post Acute — 219 Cedar Ave. S., North Bend

  24. Regency at the Park (cited for abuse) —420 SE. Myra Road, College Place

  25. Regency Coupeville Rehab and Nursing Center (cited for abuse) — 311 NE Third St., Coupeville

  26. Roo Lan Health & Rehab — 1505 Carpenter Road SE, Lacey

  27. Sequim Health & Rehabilitation — 650 W. Hemlock St., Sequim

  28. Stafford Healthcare — 2800 S. 224th St., Des Moines

  29. St. Francis of Bellingham (cited for abuse and under Special Focus Facility Program) — 3121 Squalicum Parkway, Bellingham

  30. Sunrise View Convalescent Center — 2520 Madison, Everett

  31. Vancouver Speciality and Rehab Care — 1015 N. Garrison Road, Vancouver

  32. Washington Care Center (cited for abuse) — 2821 S. Walden St., Seattle

The following nursing homes have also been cited for abuse, but either don’t have a rating yet or rate higher than one star.

  1. Ballard Center (two stars) — 820 NW 95th St., Seattle

  2. Bethany at Silver Lake (two stars) — 2235 Lake Heights Drive, Everett

  3. Christian Health Care Center (three stars) — 855 Aaron Drive, Lynden

  4. Colville of Cascadia (two stars) — 1000 E. Elep St., Colville

  5. Everett Transitional Care Services (no rating due to lack of data) — 916 Pacific Avenue, Everett

  6. Highland Health and Rehabilitation of Cascadia (three stars) — 2400 Samish Way, Bellingham

  7. Life Care Center of Kirkland (three stars) — 10101 NE 12th St., Kirkland

  8. Lynnwood Post Acute Rehabilitation Center (three stars) — 5821 188th St. SW, Lynnwood

  9. Mira Vista Care Center (three stars) — 300 S. 18th St. Mount Vernon

  10. Mountain View Rehabilitation and Care Center (two stars) — 5925 47th Ave. NE, Marysville

  11. North Central Care Center (three stars) — N. 1812 Wall St., Spokane

  12. Park Ridge Care Center (two stars) — 1250 NE. 145th St., Seattle

  13. Prestige Post-Acute and Rehab Center - Centralia (two stars) — 917 S. Scheuber Road, Centralia

  14. Providence St. Joseph Care Center (three stars) — 17 E. 8th Ave., Spokane

  15. Seattle Medical Post Acute Care (three stars) — 555 16th Ave, Seattle

  16. Shuksan Healthcare Center (two stars) — 1530 James Street, Bellingham

  17. Spokane Veterans Home (three stars) — 222 E. Fifth, Spokane

  18. The Gardens on University (two stars) — 414 S. University Road, Spokane

  19. Washington Odd Fellows Home (two stars) — 534 Boyer Ave., Walla Walla

Best-rated nursing homes

  1. Avalon Care Center - Othello — 495 N. 13th St., Othello

  2. Bailey-Boushay House — 2720 E. Madison, Seattle

  3. Bainbridge Island Health & Rehab Center — 835 Madison Ave. N, Bainbridge Island

  4. Beacon Hill Rehabilitation — 128 Beacon Hill Drive, Longview

  5. Bethany at Pacific — 916 Pacific Ave. 3rd-5th Floors, Everett

  6. Booker Rest Home — 1012 S. 3rd St., Dayton

  7. Bothell Health Care — 707 228th SW, Bothell

  8. Briarwood at Timber Ridge — 100 Timber Ridge Way NW, Issaquah

  9. Brookfield Health and Rehab of Cascadia — 510 N. Parkway, Battle Ground

  10. Buena Vista Healthcare — 151 Buena Vista Drive, Colville

  11. Columbia Basin Hospital — 200 Nat Washington Way, Ephrata

  12. Corwin Center at Emerald Heights — 10901 176th Circle NE., Redmond

  13. Cottesmore of Life Care — 2909 14th Ave. NW, Gig Harbor

  14. Discovery Nursing & Rehab of Vancouver — 5220 NE Hazel Dell Ave., Vancouver

  15. Eliseo — 1301 N. Highlands Parkway, Tacoma

  16. Forks Community Hospital — 540 Bogachiel Way, Forks

  17. Good Samaritan Health Care Center — 702 N. 16th Ave., Yakima

  18. Issaquah Nursing and Rehabilitation Center — 805 Front St., Issaquah

  19. Kin on Health Care Center — 4416 S. Brandon St., Seattle

  20. Life Care Center of Kennewick — 1508 W. Seventh Ave., Kennewick

  21. Life Care Center of South Hill — 2508 Seventh St. Southeast, Puyallup

  22. Mission Healthcare at Renton — 17420 106th Place, SE, Renton

  23. MT Baker Care Center — 2905 Connelly Ave., Bellingham

  24. North Valley Hospital — 22 W. First St., Tonasket

  25. Northwoods Lodge — 2321 Schold Place NW, Silverdale

  26. Panoramo City Convalescent & Rehabilitation Center — 1600 Sleater Kinney Road SE, Lacey

  27. Park Manor Rehabilitation Center — 1710 Plaza Way, Walla Walla

  28. Park Shore — 1630 43rd Ave. E., Seattle

  29. Park West Care Center — 1703 California Ave. SW., Seattle

  30. Promedica Skilled Nursing and Rehab (Salmon Creek) — 2811 NE 139th St., Vancouver

  31. Puget Sound Healthcare Center — 4001 Capitol Mall Drive SW., Olympia

  32. Queen Anne Healthcare — 2717 Dexter Ave. N., Seattle

  33. Rainier Rehabilitation — 920 12th Ave. SE., Puyallup

  34. Regency Canyon Lakes Rehab and Nursing Center — 2702 S. Ely St., Kennewick

  35. Regency Care Center at Monroe — 1355 W. Main St., Monroe

  36. Regency Harmony House Rehab & Nursing — 100 River Plaza, Brewster

  37. Regency Omak — 901 Shumway Road, Omak

  38. Rockwood South Hill — E. 2903 25th Ave., Spokane

  39. Royal Park Health and Rehabilitation — 7411 N. Nevada, Spokane

  40. The Springs at Pacific Regent — 919 109th Ave. NE., Bellevue

  41. Sunshine Health & Rehab — 10410 E. Ninth Ave., Spokane

  42. The Terraces at Skyline — 715 Ninth Ave., Seattle

  43. Touchmark on South Hill Nursing — 2929 S. Waterford Drive, Spokane

  44. Willapa Harbor Health and Rehab — 1100 Jackson St., Raymond

What is abuse, and how can you report it?

According to Medicare, abuse is “the willful infliction of injury, unreasonable confinement, intimidation, or punishment with resulting physical harm, pain or mental anguish. It includes verbal abuse, sexual abuse, physical abuse, and mental abuse.”

Abuse and neglect can happen to anyone, especially elderly citizens who often need help throughout their day to live their best possible lives. If you feel that you or someone you know has been abused, you should reach out to your state survey agency.

Washington residents can call (800) 737-0617 or file a complaint online.

For assistance in choosing the best living options for you or a loved one, the Area Agencies on Aging assists adults over age 50 and their caregivers. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services provides information on insurance coverage, and the National Center for Assisted Living provides details on making the right decision for nursing and assisted-living communities.