Kirkwood By The River is certified as a Medicare facility and has been approved to provide these services since 2006-09-08. 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 (205) 956-2184 or your local Medicaid office to verify current eligibility.

Kirkwood By The River holds an overall CMS (Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services) rating of 3 out of 5 stars. This is made up of three components: Health Inspection (4★), Staffing (4★), and Quality of Resident Care (1★). Our independent composite quality score — which uses the raw underlying CMS numbers to break ties between similarly-rated facilities — is 60.7/100, placing it #11841 of 14703 facilities nationally and #195 of 224 in Alabama. 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 Kirkwood By The River receives a reported average of 4 hours 41 minutes of total nurse staffing per day. This breaks down as: Registered Nurse (RN) coverage — 35 minutes; Licensed Practical Nurse (LPN) — 1 hour 22 minutes; Nurse Aide — 2 hours 44 minutes. On weekends, total nurse staffing is 4 hours 14 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 50.6%. Families are encouraged to ask about current staffing schedules during their facility visit.

Kirkwood By The River has received zero fines across all five years of available data (2022–2026), reflecting a strong regulatory compliance record. 3 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 8.0 (lower scores are better). Full inspection history and complaint details are available at medicare.gov/care-compare.

Nationally, Kirkwood By The River ranks 11841st out of 14,703 facilities (composite score: 60.7/100), placing it in the bottom 25% nationwide. Within AL, it ranks 195th out of 224 nursing homes. In Birmingham, it ranks 18th out of 20 facilities. Among facilities sharing its ZIP code, it ranks 2nd of 3. For 2026 staffing: total nurse hours rank #1,856 nationally and RN hours rank #6,975 nationally (#123 in AL). Our composite quality score of 60.7/100 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 Birmingham, visit: https://nursinghomesnearme.org/alabama/birmingham/