The Healthcare Center At Buck Creek is certified as a Medicare and Medicaid facility and has been approved to provide these services since 1976-06-01. 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 (205) 663-3859 or your local Medicaid office to verify current eligibility.

The Healthcare Center At Buck Creek 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 (2★), 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 63.4/100, placing it #10913 of 14703 facilities nationally and #186 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 The Healthcare Center At Buck Creek receives a reported average of 3 hours 35 minutes of total nurse staffing per day. This breaks down as: Registered Nurse (RN) coverage — 24 minutes; Licensed Practical Nurse (LPN) — 50 minutes; Nurse Aide — 2 hours 22 minutes. On weekends, total nurse staffing is 3 hours 10 minutes per resident per day. The CMS Staffing Rating for this facility is 2 out of 5. The national average for total nursing hours is approximately 3.5 hrs/day. Total nursing staff turnover is 48.0%. Families are encouraged to ask about current staffing schedules during their facility visit.

In the current reporting period, the facility received 2 fine(s) totaling $16,801. 9 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 2 fine(s) totaling $16,801, and 1 Medicare payment denial(s). Total penalties: 3. The Total Weighted Health Survey Score is 23.0 (lower scores are better). Full inspection history and complaint details are available at medicare.gov/care-compare.

Nationally, The Healthcare Center At Buck Creek ranks 10913th out of 14,703 facilities (composite score: 63.4/100), placing it in the below average nationwide. Within AL, it ranks 186th out of 224 nursing homes. In Alabaster, it ranks 1st out of 2 facilities. Among facilities sharing its ZIP code, it ranks 1st of 2. For 2026 staffing: total nurse hours rank #8,198 nationally and RN hours rank #10,922 nationally (#203 in AL). Our composite quality score of 63.4/100 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 Alabaster, visit: https://nursinghomesnearme.org/alabama/alabaster/