23 of the 97 Medicare-certified nursing homes in Utah (24%) are government-run, and all are listed below. 6 of the 23 graded homes earn an A and 2 earn a D or F. Nurse staff turnover runs 45.1%, 5.6 points lower than the 50.7% across all homes there. Mervyn Sharp Bennion Central Utah Veterans Home in Payson grades highest at A (99 out of 100).
How government-run homes in Utah compare
This group set against every nursing home in Utah, from the current CMS release.
The state-run veterans home in Payson runs nurse staffing at 5.69 hours per resident day, roughly 47% above the national figure, with weekend coverage dipping about 9% below its own weekday levels. Staff turnover of 33.7% sits well under the national 45.8%, which matters for continuity in a memory-care-heavy population. Against that, the current record carries 13 deficiencies, including one at the harm or jeopardy level and one tied to abuse, and the most recent inspection was April 2026. Strong marks across CMS's health, quality, and staffing domains coexist here with real citations, so read the inspection details rather than the star averages.
Staffing is the strongest thing going for the George E. Wahlen Ogden Veterans Home, 5.05 nurse hours per resident day against a national average of 3.86, with weekend coverage dipping only about 12% below weekdays. Turnover sits at 26.7%, well under the 45.8% national figure, so the people caring for residents tend to stay. The trouble is on the inspection side. Twelve deficiencies on the current record, three of them serious enough to put residents at risk of harm, two tied to abuse, and a $12,363 fine, with the most recent inspection in August 2024. Strong daily care, but a survey history that a family should ask hard questions about.
Canyonland Care Center is county-owned, and that shows in the numbers: 4.96 nurse hours per resident day, roughly 28% above the national average, with a 5-star staffing rating to match. Staff turnover is 21.6% against a national average near 46%, a workforce that mostly stays put, though weekend coverage dips about 7% below weekday levels. The trouble sits in the inspection record. Seventeen deficiencies, two of them serious enough to risk harm, including five tied to abuse, and one fine of $11,193. Two stars worth of quality and health ratings don't erase that. Good staffing is the strength here; the survey history is what a family needs to ask about directly.
Garfield County Nursing Home is small, 21 certified beds, and county-run, which matters less than how it's staffed. At 6.25 total nurse hours per resident day, it runs about 62 percent above the national average, an unusually wide margin. Weekend staffing dips roughly 14 percent below weekday levels, so coverage isn't perfectly even across the week. Turnover sits at 32.3 percent, well under the national 45.8 percent. The tradeoff shows up in care quality: a 2-out-of-5 on quality measures, 15 deficiencies on record including 2 abuse-related, though none rose to harm or jeopardy. The most recent inspection was June 25, 2025. Strong staffing and stable retention are carrying a lot of weight here.
Millard County Care and Rehabilitation is county-owned, which matters less than what the numbers show. Staffing sits at 3.60 nurse hours per resident day, about 7% under the national average, and weekends dip slightly below its own weekday levels, though turnover at 36.8% is notably better than the 45.8% national figure. The real concern is the inspection record: 40 deficiencies, including two at the harm level and three tied to abuse, with a $19,656 fine and a one-star health inspection rating. Quality and staffing measures both score 5/5, so day-to-day care looks solid, but the compliance history is where you'd want to ask hard questions before choosing this home.
Uintah Basin Rehabilitation And Senior Villa is county-owned, and that shows in the numbers: 4.23 nurse hours per resident day, roughly 9% above the national average. Weekend staffing dips about 14% below its own weekday level, so ask how that plays out on a Sunday. Staff turnover sits at 46.4%, basically even with the national average. The inspection record is the strongest part of the story, seven deficiencies, none at the harm level, none abuse-related, and the last full inspection was in February 2025. Five stars on both health inspections and quality measures, four on staffing.
Meadow Peak runs 4.03 nurse hours per resident day, a bit above the national average of 3.86, and its turnover of 27.4% sits well under the 45.8% national figure, that kind of retention usually shows up in how consistently residents see the same faces. The catch is weekends: staffing drops roughly 12% below the home's own weekday level, so coverage thins out when weekday administrators aren't around. Inspectors logged 13 deficiencies, two of them serious enough to involve harm or jeopardy, with the most recent visit in May 2024. Limited liability, for-profit ownership is worth knowing, though nothing here points to abuse.
Uintah Health Care Special Service District runs on county money, and it shows in the staffing numbers: 6.49 nurse hours per resident per day, well above the national average of 3.86. Weekend coverage dips only slightly from weekdays, so families visiting on Saturdays should still find adequate staff. The tradeoff sits in the inspection record. Eight deficiencies, including one tied to abuse and one serious enough to cause harm or jeopardy, plus a $28,038 fine. That combination drags down an otherwise solid profile, four stars each for staffing and quality measures, three for health inspections, with the most recent state visit in September 2025. Good care hours don't erase a harm-level finding. Ask what changed since.
Paramount Health and Rehabilitation is a 99-bed for-profit home in Salt Lake City, and the numbers pull in different directions. Nurse staffing sits at 3.40 hours per resident day, roughly 12 percent under the national average, and weekends run about 11 percent leaner than weekdays, so the hours get thinnest exactly when families tend to visit. Turnover at 36 percent is better than the 45.8 percent national figure, which matters for consistency of care. What weighs heaviest is the inspection record: a one-star health inspection rating, 31 deficiencies, four at harm or jeopardy level, four tied to abuse, and $119,012 in fines, with the last inspection in May 2024. The five-star quality measure score doesn't cancel that out.
Little Cottonwood Rehabilitation And Nursing is a 37-bed county-run home in South Salt Lake, and its inspection record is the strongest thing about it: a five-star health inspection rating, only six deficiencies on file, none at the harm or jeopardy level, and a survey completed in October 2025. The quality measures also come in at five stars. What holds it back is staffing, 2.06 nurse hours per resident day, roughly half the national average of 3.86, with weekends running about 18 percent thinner than weekdays. Turnover is unusually low at 26.3 percent against a 45.8 percent national figure, which suggests a stable crew, but a stable crew that's small. Two abuse-related deficiencies are worth asking about directly.
Sunshine Terrace is run by a hospital district, which usually brings some stability, but the numbers here tell a different story. The health inspection rating sits at the bottom of the scale, and the record shows 29 deficiencies, including two that put residents in immediate harm and four tied to abuse, that's a lot to carry, and it points to problems that show up in practice, not just on paper. Staffing is also rated 1 out of 5, and turnover runs slightly above the national average at 47.2%, so the people caring for residents are cycling through quickly. The most recent inspection was in April 2026, so the picture is current.
Stonehenge of Springville is owned by a hospital district, which is unusual in this space, and its most recent inspection in March 2025 gave surveyors enough to record 13 deficiencies, one involving actual harm or jeopardy and one tied to abuse. That's the part worth sitting with. The quality measure scores look strong, but those come from resident assessments the home reports itself, while the staffing picture is thinner than it appears: 3.64 nurse hours per resident day sits below the national average, weekends run about a tenth lighter than weekdays, and roughly half the staff turns over each year. Strong marks on paper, real questions underneath.
Midtown Manor's staffing is the problem here. At one star, its nurse and aide hours come in well below what CMS sees at the typical Utah home, and that shortfall shows up in the inspection record: 41 deficiencies, three tied to abuse, though none rose to the level of immediate harm or jeopardy when surveyors visited on April 30, 2025. The county runs this 82-bed building, which can mean steadier public oversight than a for-profit chain, but it doesn't fix thin coverage on the floor. Quality measures score well at four stars, so the clinical outcomes they track look fine, but those numbers depend on people being there to deliver the care. Ask about actual daily aide hours before you decide.
Mission at Community Living runs on 2.94 nurse hours per resident day, roughly a quarter below the national average, and weekend coverage dips about 12% below its own weekday level. Turnover sits at 40%, better than the 45.8% national figure, and the county-owned home was inspected recently, in June 2025, with 20 deficiencies on record, none at harm or jeopardy level, though four are abuse-related, and one fine totaling $6,351. Its quality measure score is strong and its health inspection score is middling. The tension here is thin daily staffing against decent retention and no serious harm findings; ask how weekends and evenings are actually covered before deciding.
Cascades At Riverwalk runs on thin nurse staffing for a 120-bed home, 3.77 hours per resident day sits just under the national average of 3.86, and weekends drop about 11% below its own weekday coverage. That gap matters more than the headline number, since care doesn't pause on Saturdays. Staff turnover is 55%, well above the 45.8% national figure, which means the people at the bedside keep changing. The inspection record shows 39 deficiencies, including one at the harm level and one abuse-related, with a single fine of $23,829. Quality measures score well, but staffing and inspection results pull the other way. A recent November 2025 inspection helps, though it doesn't erase the pattern.
Lomond Peak is county-owned, and its clinical quality scores are genuinely strong, a five out of five on CMS quality measures. The problem is the people delivering that care. At 2.50 nurse hours per resident day, staffing sits about 35 percent below the national average, and weekends run roughly 18 percent thinner than weekdays. Turnover of 41.7 percent actually beats the national rate, so this isn't a churn problem; it's a budgeted-hours problem. Inspections tell a rougher story: 21 deficiencies on the current record, including one at the harm level and one abuse-related, with a two out of five inspection rating from a visit dated October 2025. Ask about weekend coverage and how the abuse citation was resolved before deciding.
Alpine Meadow runs on 2.54 nursing hours per resident day, roughly a third below the national average, and weekends drop another 12% under its own weekday level, so the thinnest coverage lands when families are most likely to visit. Staff turnover sits at 66.7%, well above the 45.8% national figure, meaning the people caring for residents are often new to the building. The current record carries 22 deficiencies, including two at the harm level and six tied to abuse, with one fine of $15,025 and a 2-out-of-5 inspection rating. City/county ownership is unusual here, and quality measures score well, but the staffing and inspection numbers are what a family should weigh.
Millcreek Rehabilitation and Nursing is a 61-bed county-owned home in Salt Lake City, and its inspection record is the first thing you'd want to look at. Twenty-nine deficiencies, three of them serious enough to put residents in harm's way, and four tied to abuse. The health inspection rating sits at 1 out of 5, with a $25,441 fine on the books and a survey completed in late March 2025.
Staffing is the other weak spot. At 2.25 nurse hours per resident per day, it runs about 42% under the national average, and weekends drop roughly another 13% below the home's own weekday levels. Turnover of 52.4% exceeds the national figure, and the staffing rating lands at 2 out of 5.
Meadow Brook runs on a knife's edge with staffing, and the numbers show it. Total nurse coverage sits just under the national average, but weekends drop roughly 19% below the home's own weekday levels, and annual turnover hits 77.8% against a national average of 45.8%, meaning the people caring for residents are, more often than not, new to the building. The inspection record is the harder problem: 59 deficiencies on file, 8 of them serious enough to put residents in harm's way and 9 tied to abuse, with a $31,331 fine attached. A recent inspection in November 2025 and a government-hospital-district owner don't erase that pattern.
Crestwood runs on notably thin nursing coverage: 2.95 hours per resident day, roughly a quarter below the national average, and weekends drop about 10% below what the home already provides on weekdays. Inspectors have cited 45 deficiencies, including two at the harm or jeopardy level and three tied to abuse, with one fine of $10,839 and a health inspection rating of 1 out of 5; the last inspection was January 2024. Staff turnover sits at 59% against a national 45.8%, so the people providing care change often. The quality measure score of 5 out of 5 stands out against all of this, a gap worth asking the administrator about directly.
Frequently asked questions
How many government-run nursing homes are there in Utah?
There are 23 government-run Medicare-certified nursing homes in Utah, 24% of the 97 nursing homes there.
Are government-run nursing homes better staffed?
In Utah they average 3.86 total nursing hours per resident per day, against 4.09 for all nursing homes in Utah, a difference of -0.23 hours. Staff turnover averages 45.1% against 50.7%.
Which government-run nursing home grades best in Utah?