Delaware Senior Care – Adult Nursing Home & Elder Care

Delaware’s nursing home prices are among the lowest in the Northeast. This small state—the 45th least-populated—also has the fewest nursing homes in the region and the fewest assisted living residences in the country, according to the latest national data. But it ranks tops in one area. Thirty-two percent of its nursing homes have an overall Medicare rating of five stars, as of this writing. Alaska’s the only state to beat that.

 

Approximate number of facilities:

• Nursing homes: 45
• Assisted living residences: 32*

 

Types of care available:

• Adult day care
• Home care
• Home health-care
• Continuing-care retirement communities
• Assisted living facilities
• Residential care homes [rest (residential) homes, rest (family) care homes, group home facilities for persons with AIDS]
• Nursing homes

 

Estimated average prices:**

• Adult day care: $73 per day
• Home care: $20 per hour
• Home health-care: $21 per hour
• Assisted living: $4,654 per month
• Nursing home, semi-private room: $235 per day
• Nursing home, private room: $253 per day

 

State websites for seniors:

• James W. Williams State Service Center
• Division of Long Term Care Residents Protection
• Long-term care regulations

 

Where to report elder abuse:

• In domestic/community care: 1-800-223-9074

• In nursing homes: 1-800-223-9074

 

Government financial assistance (partial list):

• Medicaid
• ELDERinfo
• CARE Delaware (Caregiver Assistance – Respite – Education)

 

Top-10 largest cities:

• Wilmington
• Dover
• Newark
• Milford
• Seaford
• Middletown
• Elsmere
• Smyrna
• New Castle
• Georgetown

 

Top nursing homes, based on Medicare ratings:***

 

Delaware City
Governor Bacon Health Center

 

Dover
Courtland Manor

 

Greenville
Stonegates

 

Millsboro
Renaissance Healthcare

 

Newark
Churchman Village
Exceptional Care for Children
Jeanne Jugan Residence

 

Seaford
Lifecare at Lofland Park
Methodist Manor House

 

Wilmington
Mary Campbell Center
Masonic Home of Delaware
Methodist Country House
Parkview Nursing

 

*Assisted-living residence numbers are from the Department of Health and Human Services’ 2007 Residential Care and Assisted Living Compendium. According to the National Center for Assisted Living, this is the industry’s only resource for such data. Depending on the state, the number may or may not include small residential-care homes, such as adult foster care.

**Senior-care price estimates are based on the 2011 MetLife Market Survey of Long-Term Care Costs, which reports average rates,and the Genworth 2011 Cost of Care Survey, which reports median rates.

***Medicare rates nursing homes in four categories using a five-star system. These are the nursing homes with five stars in the “Overall” category. The ratings were accessed on Medicare’s Nursing Home Compare site in November or December 2011 and are subject to change. The Medicare ratings system isn’t perfect, so use additional criteria to evaluate nursing homes as well.