Stephenson Nursing Center is certified as a Medicare and Medicaid facility and has been approved to provide these services since 1996-11-01. 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 (815) 235-6173 or your local Medicaid office to verify current eligibility.

Stephenson Nursing Center 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 (3★), Staffing (3★), and Quality of Resident Care (3★). Our independent composite quality score — which uses the raw underlying CMS numbers to break ties between similarly-rated facilities — is 68.9/100, placing it #8790 of 14703 facilities nationally and #200 of 668 in Illinois. 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 Stephenson Nursing Center receives a reported average of 4 hours 20 minutes of total nurse staffing per day. This breaks down as: Registered Nurse (RN) coverage — 53 minutes; Licensed Practical Nurse (LPN) — 34 minutes; Nurse Aide — 2 hours 53 minutes. On weekends, total nurse staffing is 3 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. Families are encouraged to ask about current staffing schedules during their facility visit.

The facility has received 22 fine(s) over the 5-year period, totaling $460,550. 33 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 0 fine(s) totaling $0, and 1 Medicare payment denial(s). Total penalties: 1. The Total Weighted Health Survey Score is 126.0 (lower scores are better). Full inspection history and complaint details are available at medicare.gov/care-compare.

Nationally, Stephenson Nursing Center ranks 8790th out of 14,703 facilities (composite score: 68.9/100), placing it in the below average nationwide. Within IL, it ranks 200th out of 668 nursing homes. In Freeport, it ranks 2nd out of 4 facilities. Among facilities sharing its ZIP code, it ranks 2nd of 4. For 2026 staffing: total nurse hours rank #3,016 nationally and RN hours rank #2,829 nationally (#153 in IL). Our composite quality score of 68.9/100 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 Freeport, visit: https://nursinghomesnearme.org/illinois/freeport/