Hillcrest Firethorn is certified as a Medicare and Medicaid facility and has been approved to provide these services since 2017-12-07. 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 (531) 739-3500 or your local Medicaid office to verify current eligibility.

Hillcrest Firethorn holds an overall CMS (Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services) rating of 4 out of 5 stars. This is made up of three components: Health Inspection (3★), Staffing (4★), 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 86.2/100, placing it #1319 of 14703 facilities nationally and #21 of 179 in Nebraska. 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 Hillcrest Firethorn receives a reported average of 4 hours 2 minutes of total nurse staffing per day. This breaks down as: Registered Nurse (RN) coverage — 22 minutes; Licensed Practical Nurse (LPN) — 1 hour 16 minutes; Nurse Aide — 2 hours 24 minutes. On weekends, total nurse staffing is 3 hours 30 minutes per resident per day. The CMS Staffing Rating for this facility is 4 out of 5. The national average for total nursing hours is approximately 3.5 hrs/day. Total nursing staff turnover is 41.3%. Families are encouraged to ask about current staffing schedules during their facility visit.

Hillcrest Firethorn has received zero fines across all five years of available data (2022–2026), reflecting a strong regulatory compliance record. 16 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 39.0 (lower scores are better). Full inspection history and complaint details are available at medicare.gov/care-compare.

Nationally, Hillcrest Firethorn ranks 1319th out of 14,703 facilities (composite score: 86.2/100), placing it in the top 10% nationwide. Within NE, it ranks 21st out of 179 nursing homes. In Lincoln, it ranks 5th out of 13 facilities. For 2026 staffing: total nurse hours rank #4,611 nationally and RN hours rank #11,688 nationally (#153 in NE). Our composite quality score of 86.2/100 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 Lincoln, visit: https://nursinghomesnearme.org/nebraska/lincoln/