Merced Behavioral Center is certified as a Medicaid facility and has been approved to provide these services since 1985-06-26. 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 (209) 723-8814 or your local Medicaid office to verify current eligibility.

Merced Behavioral Center 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 (5★), 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 89.4/100, placing it #645 of 14703 facilities nationally and #97 of 1162 in California. 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 Merced Behavioral Center receives a reported average of 4 hours 2 minutes of total nurse staffing per day. This breaks down as: Registered Nurse (RN) coverage — 20 minutes; Licensed Practical Nurse (LPN) — 1 hour 13 minutes; Nurse Aide — 2 hours 29 minutes. On weekends, total nurse staffing is 3 hours 19 minutes per resident per day. The CMS Staffing Rating for this facility is 5 out of 5. The national average for total nursing hours is approximately 3.5 hrs/day. Total nursing staff turnover is 25.3%. Families are encouraged to ask about current staffing schedules during their facility visit.

The facility has received 3 fine(s) over the 5-year period, totaling $1,950. One substantiated complaint was recorded across the 5-year period. 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 27.0 (lower scores are better). Full inspection history and complaint details are available at medicare.gov/care-compare.

Nationally, Merced Behavioral Center ranks 645th out of 14,703 facilities (composite score: 89.4/100), placing it in the top 5% nationwide. Within CA, it ranks 97th out of 1,162 nursing homes. In Merced, it ranks 1st out of 6 facilities. Among facilities sharing its ZIP code, it ranks 1st of 2. For 2026 staffing: total nurse hours rank #4,596 nationally and RN hours rank #12,279 nationally (#907 in CA). Our composite quality score of 89.4/100 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 Merced, visit: https://nursinghomesnearme.org/california/merced/