The Lodge At Mills River is certified as a Medicare and Medicaid facility and has been approved to provide these services since 1986-12-19. Medicare covers short-term skilled nursing care (typically up to 100 days after a qualifying hospital stay). Medicaid covers long-term care for residents who meet financial eligibility requirements. Contact the facility at (828) 684-4857 or your local Medicaid office to verify current eligibility.

The Lodge At Mills River holds an overall CMS (Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services) rating of 5 out of 5 stars. This is made up of three components: Health Inspection (5★), Staffing (2★), and Quality of Resident Care (5★). Our independent composite quality score — which uses the raw underlying CMS numbers to break ties between similarly-rated facilities — is 82.0/100, placing it #2825 of 14703 facilities nationally and #58 of 418 in North Carolina. Star ratings are a useful starting point, but the composite score and individual sub-ratings give a more complete picture for families comparing facilities.

Each resident at The Lodge At Mills River receives a reported average of 3 hours 34 minutes of total nurse staffing per day. This breaks down as: Registered Nurse (RN) coverage — 53 minutes; Licensed Practical Nurse (LPN) — 49 minutes; Nurse Aide — 1 hour 52 minutes. On weekends, total nurse staffing is 2 hours 56 minutes per resident per day. The CMS Staffing Rating for this facility is 2 out of 5. The national average for total nursing hours is approximately 3.5 hrs/day. Total nursing staff turnover is 51.9%. Families are encouraged to ask about current staffing schedules during their facility visit.

The facility has received 5 fine(s) over the 5-year period, totaling $27,248. 2 substantiated complaints were recorded across the 5-year period — families should request details from the facility or review CMS inspection findings. In the most recent CMS reporting period, the facility received 0 fine(s) totaling $0, and 0 Medicare payment denial(s). Total penalties: 0. The Total Weighted Health Survey Score is 0.0 (lower scores are better). Full inspection history and complaint details are available at medicare.gov/care-compare.

Nationally, The Lodge At Mills River ranks 2825th out of 14,703 facilities (composite score: 82.0/100), placing it in the top 25% nationwide. Within NC, it ranks 58th out of 418 nursing homes. For 2026 staffing: total nurse hours rank #8,432 nationally and RN hours rank #2,898 nationally (#52 in NC). Our composite quality score of 82.0/100 weighs health inspections, quality of resident care, staffing hours, compliance record, and five-year performance trends — giving a more complete picture than CMS star ratings alone, which can place hundreds of facilities in the same 5-star bucket. To browse and compare all nursing homes in Mills River, visit: https://nursinghomesnearme.org/north_carolina/mills-river/