Allentown Senior AdvisorWho licenses nursing homes in Pennsylvania?
The Pennsylvania Department of Health licenses nursing homes and, acting for CMS, inspects them for Medicare and Medicaid certification and investigates complaints and incidents; DHS licenses personal care homes and assisted living residences instead.
CMS certifies 30 nursing homes in Lehigh, Northampton and Carbon counties with 5,127 beds; of the 30 with an overall rating, 11 have five stars, 7 four, 7 three, 2 two and 3 one (Care Compare data as of October 1, 2026). Every certified nursing home in the three counties has a page in our directory with CMS's own figures.
How does CMS rate Lehigh Valley nursing homes?
CMS's Care Compare gives each certified nursing home an overall rating of one to five stars built from three parts: health inspections, staffing and quality measures, each also rated one to five.
The health inspection rating carries the most weight and is relative to other homes in the same state. The overall rating is a starting point, not a verdict: read the deficiency list and the staffing figures behind it.
How well staffed are nursing homes in the Lehigh Valley?
The median Lehigh Valley nursing home reports 3.62 nurse staffing hours per resident per day, 0.61 of them registered nurse hours, and nursing staff turnover of 39.7% (CMS data as of October 1, 2026).
Staffing hours come from payroll data nursing homes submit to CMS. Turnover above the local median is worth asking about, especially for registered nurses and the administrator.
Where do I complain about a Pennsylvania nursing home?
Call the Department of Health's complaint hotline at 1-800-254-5164, email c-ncomplai@pa.gov or use its online complaint form; suspected abuse of an older adult can also go to the statewide protective services line, 1-800-490-8505.
The long-term care ombudsman in each county can also help a resident or family raise a problem with the home first. Complaints the Department substantiates appear in later inspection reports and feed into CMS's ratings.
Who pays for a nursing home in Pennsylvania?
Medicare pays for up to 100 days of skilled nursing after a qualifying three-day hospital stay (in full for 20 days, with a daily copayment after that); long stays are paid privately, by long-term care insurance, or by Medical Assistance through Community HealthChoices once a resident qualifies.
See what Medicare pays and Medical Assistance for long-term care.
At a glance
| A CMS star rating is | A CMS star rating is not | |
|---|---|---|
| Source | CMS's calculation from inspections, staffing and quality data | A rating we or the state invented |
| Comparison | Relative to other Pennsylvania homes on inspections | A national ranking |
| Use | A place to start reading | A substitute for a visit |
Sources include 55 Pa. Code Chapters 20, 2600 and 2800, Pennsylvania DHS, Department of Health and Department of Aging pages, CMS, VA and CareScout rate tables as cited above; see our editorial standards.
