Thorne Crest Retirement Center is certified as a Medicare and Medicaid facility and has been approved to provide these services since 1987-02-01. 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 (507) 205-9004 or your local Medicaid office to verify current eligibility.

Thorne Crest Retirement Center holds an overall CMS (Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services) rating of 1 out of 5 stars. This is made up of three components: Health Inspection (1★), Staffing (3★), and Quality of Resident Care (4★). Our independent composite quality score — which uses the raw underlying CMS numbers to break ties between similarly-rated facilities — is 66.1/100, placing it #9906 of 14703 facilities nationally and #233 of 338 in Minnesota. 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 Thorne Crest Retirement Center receives a reported average of 3 hours 32 minutes of total nurse staffing per day. This breaks down as: Registered Nurse (RN) coverage — 38 minutes; Licensed Practical Nurse (LPN) — 31 minutes; Nurse Aide — 2 hours 22 minutes. On weekends, total nurse staffing is 3 hours 26 minutes per resident per day. The CMS Staffing Rating for this facility is 3 out of 5. The national average for total nursing hours is approximately 3.5 hrs/day. Total nursing staff turnover is 75.4%. Families are encouraged to ask about current staffing schedules during their facility visit.

In the current reporting period, the facility received 1 fine(s) totaling $43,082. 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 1 fine(s) totaling $43,082, and 0 Medicare payment denial(s). Total penalties: 1. The Total Weighted Health Survey Score is 180.25 (lower scores are better). Full inspection history and complaint details are available at medicare.gov/care-compare.

Nationally, Thorne Crest Retirement Center ranks 9906th out of 14,703 facilities (composite score: 66.1/100), placing it in the below average nationwide. Within MN, it ranks 233rd out of 338 nursing homes. In Albert Lea, it ranks 3rd out of 3 facilities. Among facilities sharing its ZIP code, it ranks 3rd of 3. For 2026 staffing: total nurse hours rank #8,819 nationally and RN hours rank #6,009 nationally (#283 in MN). Our composite quality score of 66.1/100 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 Albert Lea, visit: https://nursinghomesnearme.org/minnesota/albert-lea/