Salem Lutheran Home is certified as a Medicare and Medicaid facility and has been approved to provide these services since 1990-05-01. 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 (712) 764-4201 or your local Medicaid office to verify current eligibility.

Salem Lutheran Home holds an overall CMS (Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services) rating of 1 out of 5 stars. This is made up of three components: Health Inspection (2★), Staffing (1★), and Quality of Resident Care (2★). Our independent composite quality score — which uses the raw underlying CMS numbers to break ties between similarly-rated facilities — is 61.6/100, placing it #11534 of 14703 facilities nationally and #297 of 390 in Iowa. 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 Salem Lutheran Home receives a reported average of N/A of total nurse staffing per day. This breaks down as: Registered Nurse (RN) coverage — N/A; Licensed Practical Nurse (LPN) — N/A; Nurse Aide — N/A. On weekends, total nurse staffing is N/A per resident per day. The CMS Staffing Rating for this facility is 1 out of 5. The national average for total nursing hours is approximately 3.5 hrs/day. Total nursing staff turnover is 64.9%. Families are encouraged to ask about current staffing schedules during their facility visit.

In the current reporting period, the facility received 1 fine(s) totaling $25,448. 14 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 1 fine(s) totaling $25,448, and 0 Medicare payment denial(s). Total penalties: 1. The Total Weighted Health Survey Score is 61.0 (lower scores are better). Full inspection history and complaint details are available at medicare.gov/care-compare.

Nationally, Salem Lutheran Home ranks 11534th out of 14,703 facilities (composite score: 61.6/100), placing it in the bottom 25% nationwide. Within IA, it ranks 297th out of 390 nursing homes. For 2025 staffing: total nurse hours rank #11,249 nationally and RN hours rank #6,928 nationally (#247 in IA). Our composite quality score of 61.6/100 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 Elk Horn, visit: https://nursinghomesnearme.org/iowa/elk-horn/