Merry Wood Lodge is certified as a Medicare and Medicaid facility and has been approved to provide these services since 1974-01-01. 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 (334) 567-8484 or your local Medicaid office to verify current eligibility.

Merry Wood Lodge holds an overall CMS (Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services) rating of 2 out of 5 stars. This is made up of three components: Health Inspection (1★), Staffing (3★), 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 67.4/100, placing it #9398 of 14703 facilities nationally and #156 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 Merry Wood Lodge receives a reported average of 3 hours 10 minutes of total nurse staffing per day. This breaks down as: Registered Nurse (RN) coverage — 47 minutes; Licensed Practical Nurse (LPN) — 27 minutes; Nurse Aide — 1 hour 56 minutes. On weekends, total nurse staffing is 2 hours 51 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 51.3%. Families are encouraged to ask about current staffing schedules during their facility visit.

⚠️ CMS has flagged Merry Wood Lodge 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. In the current reporting period, the facility received 1 fine(s) totaling $182,968. 6 substantiated complaints were recorded across the 5-year period — families should request details from the facility or review CMS inspection findings. There were 1 Medicare payment denial(s) in the current period. In the most recent CMS reporting period, the facility received 1 fine(s) totaling $182,968, and 1 Medicare payment denial(s). Total penalties: 2. The Total Weighted Health Survey Score is 640.0 (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, Merry Wood Lodge ranks 9398th out of 14,703 facilities (composite score: 67.4/100), placing it in the below average nationwide. Within AL, it ranks 156th out of 224 nursing homes. For 2026 staffing: total nurse hours rank #12,239 nationally and RN hours rank #3,882 nationally (#45 in AL). Our composite quality score of 67.4/100 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 Elmore, visit: https://nursinghomesnearme.org/alabama/elmore/