All 3 Medicare-certified nursing homes in Norwalk,
side by side on the things that separate them: how many nursing hours each resident gets, how much of the
staff leaves each year, and what inspectors found on their last visit.
Notre Dame Health and Rehabilitation Center runs about 60 beds under nonprofit ownership, and its nurse staffing sits at 4.16 hours per resident day, roughly 8% above the national average. That's the strongest part of the picture. The weaker part: weekend staffing drops about 13% below its own weekday level, so coverage isn't evenly spread across the week. Inspections in August 2024 turned up 15 deficiencies, two of them serious enough to involve harm or jeopardy, plus one fine of $12,735. Nothing on the record involves abuse. Federal ratings put health inspections and quality measures at 4 out of 5, with staffing at 3. If you're touring, ask how weekends and evenings are actually covered.
Autumn Lake Healthcare at Norwalk is a 150-bed for-profit home owned by an individual, and the staffing numbers are the first thing to look at. At 3.26 nurse hours per resident per day, it runs about 16% under the national average of 3.86, and weekend coverage drops roughly 6% below its own weekday level, that's when families tend to notice. Turnover tells a better story: 29.9% versus a national 45.8%, meaning aides and nurses are staying longer than at most homes. Inspections are the weak spot: 41 deficiencies on the current record, a 2/5 health inspection rating, one $12,834 fine, and a survey as recent as March 2026. None of those deficiencies rose to harm or jeopardy, and there are no abuse findings, so the problems look more like process and documentation than immediate danger.
Norwalk Care Center runs 150 certified beds under for-profit LLC ownership, and its nurse staffing sits at 3.74 hours per resident day, just under the national average of 3.86. Weekends drop roughly 11% below its own weekday coverage, and staff turnover is 42.3%, a touch better than the 45.8% national figure. What stands out is the inspection record: 41 deficiencies, including 3 at harm or jeopardy level and 7 tied to abuse, plus two fines totaling $198,225. Its last inspection was October 2024. Quality measures score well, but the health inspection rating tells a different story, and that gap is worth asking about directly.