Little Rock-Area Nursing Homes by the Numbers: What CMS Data Shows

How are central Arkansas nursing homes rated?

CMS's Care Compare publishes an overall star rating for each certified nursing home, built from three parts: health inspections, staffing and quality measures. Across Pulaski, Faulkner, Saline, Lonoke, Grant and Perry counties, CMS certifies 44 homes, and in its October 1, 2026 release 24 of them hold four or five stars while 16 hold one or two.

The ratings compare homes within Arkansas, so a three-star home is middle of the pack for the state rather than 'average' in some absolute sense.

How do the counties compare?

Pulaski County holds most of the homes and most of the spread. Grant and Perry counties each have one home, so families there usually compare with homes in neighboring counties.

Which homes hold five stars?

In this release, the five-star homes are: Amberwood Health and Rehabilitation (Benton); Arkansas Health Center (Benton); Chambers Health and Rehabilitation (Carlisle); Greenbrier Nursing and Rehabilitation Center (Greenbrier); Greystone Nursing and Rehab, llc (Cabot); Heartland Rehabilitation and Care Center (Benton); Lakewood Health and Rehab, llc (North Little Rock); Lonoke Health and Rehab Center, llc (Lonoke); Nursing and Rehabilitation Center at Good Shepherd (Little Rock); Pleasant Valley Rehabilitation and Nursing (Little Rock); Presbyterian Village, Inc (Little Rock); Spring Creek Health & Rehab (Cabot); Superior Health & Rehab, llc (Conway); The Springs of Chenal (Little Rock).

A five-star rating is good news, but it is not a guarantee. Ratings move as new inspections arrive, and a home's staffing on the weekend you visit may not match its annual average. Read the inspection detail before relying on the stars.

What should we look at beyond the stars?

Start with the most recent standard health inspection: its date, the number of deficiencies and how many came from complaints. Then look at nurse staffing hours per resident per day, especially registered nurse hours, and at staff turnover. Finally, check for fines and payment denials in CMS's three-year penalty window, and whether CMS shows its abuse icon.

Across the metro's homes, the median latest-cycle deficiency count is 2 and the median total nurse staffing is 4.05 hours per resident per day. Each of our facility pages compares a home with those medians.

How do we use this when a hospital needs an answer fast?

Ask the hospital case manager which homes have accepted your parent's referral, then look each one up. Rule out any home with a recent pattern of serious deficiencies or a Special Focus Facility designation, compare staffing, and call the two or three best with specific questions about therapy, discharge planning and Medicaid beds.

If you can, have one family member visit the top choice before transfer. A 20-minute visit at mealtime tells you a great deal.

Who inspects these homes, and where do complaints go?

Arkansas's Office of Long Term Care inspects certified nursing homes for CMS, through unannounced annual surveys and complaint investigations, and those results feed Care Compare. Complaints about care go to the Office of Long Term Care at 1-800-582-4887; suspected abuse, neglect or exploitation goes to the Adult Maltreatment Hotline at 1-800-482-8049; and CareLink's long-term care ombudsmen provide free advocacy for residents in Pulaski, Saline, Faulkner and Lonoke counties.

How should families weigh staffing numbers?

Staffing is often the most telling number on Care Compare because it changes daily life: how fast call lights are answered, whether residents are helped to the bathroom on time, whether someone notices a change in condition. Look at total nurse hours per resident per day, registered nurse hours, weekend hours and turnover together. A home with good weekday hours but a steep weekend drop, or turnover far above the regional median, deserves careful questions.

Ask the administrator how many shifts last month were filled by agency staff, and whether the same aides usually care for the same residents. Consistent assignment matters, especially for residents with dementia.

What do fines and the abuse icon mean?

CMS shows fines and payment denials from the past three years, and an abuse icon when a home was cited for abuse in the past year or for potential abuse in each of the two years before. Neither automatically rules a home out, since ownership and leadership can change, but both deserve a direct question: what happened, and what changed afterward?