Sterling Care Bel Air is certified as a Medicare and Medicaid facility and has been approved to provide these services since 1997-09-16. 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 (410) 838-7810 or your local Medicaid office to verify current eligibility.

Sterling Care Bel Air 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 (2★), 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 82.2/100, placing it #2700 of 14703 facilities nationally and #49 of 221 in Maryland. 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 Sterling Care Bel Air receives a reported average of 3 hours 33 minutes of total nurse staffing per day. This breaks down as: Registered Nurse (RN) coverage — 25 minutes; Licensed Practical Nurse (LPN) — 1 hour 12 minutes; Nurse Aide — 1 hour 55 minutes. On weekends, total nurse staffing is 3 hours 10 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 37.4%. Families are encouraged to ask about current staffing schedules during their facility visit.

⚠️ CMS has flagged Sterling Care Bel Air with an abuse icon, indicating a history of reported abuse or neglect incidents. Families should review the detailed inspection reports on Medicare.gov before considering this facility. Sterling Care Bel Air has received zero fines across all five years of available data (2022–2026), reflecting a strong regulatory compliance record. 7 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 141.0 (lower scores are better). IMPORTANT: CMS has flagged this facility with an abuse icon — indicating a reported history of abuse or neglect. Families should review the full inspection report on medicare.gov/care-compare before deciding. Full inspection history and complaint details are available at medicare.gov/care-compare.

Nationally, Sterling Care Bel Air ranks 2700th out of 14,703 facilities (composite score: 82.2/100), placing it in the top 25% nationwide. Within MD, it ranks 49th out of 221 nursing homes. In Bel Air, it ranks 1st out of 2 facilities. For 2026 staffing: total nurse hours rank #8,682 nationally and RN hours rank #10,441 nationally (#206 in MD). Our composite quality score of 82.2/100 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 Bel Air, visit: https://nursinghomesnearme.org/maryland/bel-air/