All 3 Medicare-certified nursing homes in Urbandale,
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.
Deerfield Health Care Center is a 30-bed nonprofit home in Urbandale, church-affiliated, and the numbers behind it are unusually steady. Nurse staffing runs 5.31 hours per resident day, roughly 38% above the national average, and weekends hold within about 2% of weekday coverage, a gap that sinks plenty of homes. Staff turnover sits at 25.8% against a national average of 45.8%, which matters because aides who stay know the residents. The inspection record shows three deficiencies, none at harm or jeopardy level and none abuse-related, with the most recent survey completed March 27, 2025. At 30 beds, this is a small enough building that consistent staffing and low turnover show up directly in daily care.
Karen Acres runs a tight ship on inspections and quality measures, a four-star health inspection record and five stars on clinical quality, with no deficiencies at the harm level and nothing abuse-related. The trade-off sits in daily staffing: 3.27 nurse hours per resident, roughly 15% under the national average, and weekends run about 7% thinner than weekdays. That gap matters most when a resident needs help on a Saturday afternoon. Turnover is the bright spot, 37.5% versus 45.8% nationally, so caregivers tend to stick around, which helps in a 35-bed building where everyone knows everyone. One recent inspection, June 2025, with ten deficiencies on record but none serious.
Royal Oaks is a 115-bed for-profit home in Urbandale that CMS has placed in its Special Focus Facility program, a designation reserved for the homes with the most persistent problems. The inspection record backs that up: 71 deficiencies, seven serious enough to put residents in harm's way, two tied to abuse, and three fines totaling $122,945. Staffing runs about 6% under the national average, and the gap widens on weekends, when coverage drops roughly 9% below its own weekday level. Turnover sits at 66.7%, well above the 45.8% national figure, so the people caring for residents are constantly changing. If you're considering this one, ask hard questions about what's changed since the May 2025 inspection.