Who will care for Nebraska seniors?

Fifteen Nebraska counties have no nursing home or assisted living facility.

Nebraskans’ access to care in these settings is becoming increasingly limited due to a lack of adequate funding for services provided, a depleted workforce, and an increase in the cost of goods and services needed to operate.

Sixteen Nebraska nursing homes have closed over the past four years, citing staffing challenges and underfunding.

  • TECUMSEH – Belle Terrace (67 beds)
  • PENDER – Legacy Garden Rehab (42 beds)
  • ARAPAHOE – Good Samaritan Society (30 beds)
  • GRANT – Golden Ours (50 beds)
  • RAVENNA – Good Samaritan Society (61 beds)
  • GREELEY – Greeley Care Home (26 beds)
  • VALENTINE – Good Samaritan Society (52 beds)
  • LEXINGTON – Plum Creek Care Center (66 beds)
  • HOOPER – Hooper Care Center (48 beds)
  • TRENTON – El Dorado Nursing Home (40 beds)
  • MULLEN – Pioneer Manor (30 beds)
  • PONCA – Elms Health Care Center (44 beds)
  • DODGE – Parkview Home (64 beds)
  • LOUP CITY – Rose Lane Home (64 beds)
  • PAWNEE CITY – Premier Estates of Pawnee (64 beds)
  • BUTTE – Butte Senior Living (40 beds)

Nebraska's Deserts of Nursing Home Care

Number of Nebraska Nursing Facilities by County
Source: Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services Licensure Roster - February 2025

If Nebraska Counties with One Nursing Facility All Had Closures
Source: Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services Licensure Roster - February 2025

Impacts of Nursing Home Closures

These care settings are hubs of activity and major economic drivers for their town. Nursing homes and assisted living facilities support more than $3 billion of Nebraska’s economic activity.

When a nursing home closes, it means family and friends must travel greater distances to visit their loved ones.

A report published in the July 2022 Journal of Post-Acute and Long-Term Care Medicine (JAMDA) examined six factors associated with the likelihood of visitation and found travel time has a “substantively and statistically significant negative association with visit probability for all age groups.”

Less frequent visitation by families and friends has a negative impact on residents’ physical health and emotional well-being.

An earlier report published in the February 2021 JAMDA reviewed published research and identified a positive association between social connection and residents’ health and well-being.

Funding Long-Term Care

Nebraska’s expenditure for nursing home care is only 12% of the total annual Medicaid budget.

As Nebraska Legislature builds a state budget plan, we need to make our voices heard. 

Funding our frontlines is crucial to keeping the most at-risk Nebraskans safe and healthy. Join us in urging our elected officials to stand up for nursing facilities and assisted living communities and the Nebraskans in their care.

Resources

Nebraska Health Care Association:

American Health Care Association/National Assisted Living Center:

Legislation:

  • LB 57 - (Sen. Dorn) State intent regarding appropriations for Medicaid assisted living facilities
  • LB 188 - (Sen. Dover) State intent to appropriate for Medicaid nursing facility rates

 

Take Action!

Call-to-Action! Submit comments on the following two bills before 8:00 a.m. CT on their hearing date, March 11, 2025.

LB 57
(Sen. Dorn) 
State intent regarding appropriations for Medicaid assisted living facilities

Submit Comments on LB 57 »

 

LB 188
(Sen. Dover)
State intent to appropriate for Medicaid nursing facility rates

Submit Comments on LB 188 »

 

To provide quality care, nursing facilities and assisted living communities require a strong, well-funded workforce. Please share why this is important by sending a personal message to your state senator.

 

Watch Now: People Worth Caring About Docuseries

Now available: watch People Worth Caring About, a long-term care workforce docuseries featuring seven Nebraska nursing homes and assisted living communities!

The docuseries, produced in partnership with Peter Murphy Lewis and Golden Gen Movement, showcases the variety of career opportunities and rewards of working in Nebraska’s nursing homes and assisted living communities, thanks to funding from Nebraska Health Care Foundation.

All seven episodes of People Worth Caring About are available to watch below and on YouTube.

Watch on YouTube »