Buffalo Lake Health Care Center is certified as a Medicare and Medicaid facility and has been approved to provide these services since 1991-11-01. 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 (320) 833-5364 or your local Medicaid office to verify current eligibility.

Buffalo Lake Health Care Center holds an overall CMS (Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services) rating of 4 out of 5 stars. This is made up of three components: Health Inspection (3★), Staffing (5★), 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 74.5/100, placing it #6159 of 14703 facilities nationally and #138 of 338 in Minnesota. 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 Buffalo Lake Health Care Center receives a reported average of 4 hours 34 minutes of total nurse staffing per day. This breaks down as: Registered Nurse (RN) coverage — 48 minutes; Licensed Practical Nurse (LPN) — 27 minutes; Nurse Aide — 3 hours 18 minutes. On weekends, total nurse staffing is 3 hours 55 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 45.3%. Families are encouraged to ask about current staffing schedules during their facility visit.

The facility has received 2 fine(s) over the 5-year period, totaling $10,000. 4 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 55.0 (lower scores are better). Full inspection history and complaint details are available at medicare.gov/care-compare.

Nationally, Buffalo Lake Health Care Center ranks 6159th out of 14,703 facilities (composite score: 74.5/100), placing it in the above average nationwide. Within MN, it ranks 138th out of 338 nursing homes. For 2026 staffing: total nurse hours rank #2,170 nationally and RN hours rank #3,629 nationally (#227 in MN). Our composite quality score of 74.5/100 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 Buffalo Lake, visit: https://nursinghomesnearme.org/minnesota/buffalo-lake/