Choosing in a hurry
Sometimes there is no time to do this slowly: a hospital discharge planner needs an answer, a rehab stay is ending, a fall changed everything in an afternoon. This page is for that week. Print it and bring it with you.
One honest note first: a hospital may push, but you have the right to a safe discharge plan. You can decline a facility that does not fit. Asking for one more day to look at two more options is a reasonable request, and this checklist makes that day count.
What to verify on a tour
Go at an off hour if you can
Late afternoon, a weekend, or mealtime tells you more than a scheduled 10am tour. Staffing is thinnest on weekends; that is when you want to see the hallway.
Count, quietly
How many residents are parked in the hallway or dayroom with nothing happening? How long does a call light stay on? Are staff addressing residents by name?
Smell and listen
A brief odor near one room happens anywhere. A pervasive smell means care is behind schedule chronically. Listen for how staff talk to residents when they think no one is watching.
Ask who is on tonight
Ask how many nurses and aides are scheduled for the unit tonight and this weekend, and how much of the schedule is agency staff. Regular staff who know the residents are worth more than any amenity.
Look at the food, not the menu
Ask to see a meal being served. Is help available for people who need feeding assistance, or do trays sit untouched?
Verify the record before you sign
Look the facility up on this site or the state and federal sources it draws from: the license, the inspection findings, any penalties. Ask the administrator about anything you found. A good one answers plainly.
What the star ratings miss
- Ratings are backward-looking averages. A change of ownership or a wave of departures can change a building faster than the stars move.
- Staffing stars are built from averages that can hide thin weekends and nights. Ask for tonight's actual numbers.
- Quality measures are largely self-reported. Treat a low score as a warning; treat a high score as something to verify in person.
- Assisted living has no federal ratings at all in Minnesota, and the state has licensed it only since 2021. A clean record can mean a good facility, or a young dataset.
- No rating measures the thing you are actually choosing: whether the people on the floor will know and care about your parent.
The ratings still matter; use the lookup and the compare view to narrow the list before you drive anywhere. Just do not let a number decide alone.
Questions to ask, out loud
- How many nurses and aides are on this unit tonight? This Saturday night?
- What is your staff turnover, and how much agency staffing do you use?
- Who is the doctor or nurse practitioner who will see my parent, and how often?
- What happens when a resident falls? Who calls me, and how fast?
- May I see the most recent state survey? (They must show you.)
- What would cause you to discharge my parent, and how much notice do we get?
- What exactly is included in the quoted rate, and what costs extra?
- If we run out of private funds, do you accept Medicaid (Elderly Waiver in assisted living), and does the resident have to move?
What can wait, even this week
- Selling the house. Nothing about admission requires it this week; talk to an elder law attorney before any major asset decision.
- Signing anything you were told is standard. You may take the admission agreement home overnight. Watch for arbitration clauses; in nursing homes, agreeing to arbitration cannot be required as a condition of admission.
- Guilt about the decision itself. A safe placement chosen from real records is an act of care, not a failure.
This checklist is general information, not legal or medical advice. Facility records referenced here come from Minnesota Department of Health and CMS Care Compare public files; each facility page on this site shows the date its record was last checked.