Puget Sound Transitional Care is certified as a Medicare and Medicaid facility and has been approved to provide these services since 2004-02-02. 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 (206) 824-0600 or your local Medicaid office to verify current eligibility.

Puget Sound Transitional Care 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 (2★), Staffing (3★), and Quality of Resident Care (4★). Our independent composite quality score — which uses the raw underlying CMS numbers to break ties between similarly-rated facilities — is 74.4/100, placing it #6207 of 14703 facilities nationally and #105 of 194 in Washington. 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 Puget Sound Transitional Care receives a reported average of 3 hours 58 minutes of total nurse staffing per day. This breaks down as: Registered Nurse (RN) coverage — 50 minutes; Licensed Practical Nurse (LPN) — 45 minutes; Nurse Aide — 2 hours 23 minutes. On weekends, total nurse staffing is 3 hours 22 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 26.2%. Families are encouraged to ask about current staffing schedules during their facility visit.

The facility has received 9 fine(s) over the 5-year period, totaling $298,240. 27 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 178.25 (lower scores are better). Full inspection history and complaint details are available at medicare.gov/care-compare.

Nationally, Puget Sound Transitional Care ranks 6207th out of 14,703 facilities (composite score: 74.4/100), placing it in the above average nationwide. Within WA, it ranks 105th out of 194 nursing homes. In Des Moines, it ranks 3rd out of 3 facilities. Among facilities sharing its ZIP code, it ranks 3rd of 3. For 2026 staffing: total nurse hours rank #4,998 nationally and RN hours rank #3,251 nationally (#90 in WA). Our composite quality score of 74.4/100 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 Des Moines, visit: https://nursinghomesnearme.org/washington/des-moines/