Little Rock Senior AdvisorWhat does a nursing home provide in Arkansas?
A nursing home provides 24-hour licensed nursing care, help with all daily activities, therapy and medical oversight, and most also offer short-term rehab after hospital stays.
Certified homes are inspected by the Office of Long Term Care for CMS, and the results are public on Care Compare.
How many nursing homes are in the Little Rock area?
CMS lists 44 certified nursing homes in the six counties; it publishes an overall rating for 44 of them, and 24 hold four or five stars (Care Compare data dated October 1, 2026).
What does a nursing home cost in Arkansas?
About $245 a day for a semi-private room and $265 for a private room, from CareScout's 2025 Arkansas medians.
Medicare covers short skilled stays; Arkansas Medicaid covers long-stay care for those who qualify.
How should we compare nursing homes?
Use CMS's ratings as a starting point, then look at the latest inspection, staffing hours, turnover and fines, and visit at different times of day.
Each of our facility pages compares those numbers with the central Arkansas median.
What should we ask on a nursing home tour?
Ask for the latest statement of deficiencies, how many aides work each shift, how much agency staff is used, and whether the home keeps Medicaid long-stay beds.
Visit on a weekend evening as well as a weekday morning.
How do we choose between rehab nursing homes?
Compare CMS's short-stay quality measures and staffing ratings, ask about therapy hours per day and on weekends, and ask how many short-stay residents go home.
Do Arkansas nursing homes take Medicaid?
Most certified nursing homes accept Arkansas Medicaid for long-stay residents who qualify, but not every bed is open to Medicaid at every time, so ask how many Medicaid beds the home keeps.
A resident who enters as private pay and later qualifies for Medicaid can usually stay if the home participates.
Who inspects nursing homes around Little Rock?
The DHS Office of Long Term Care, acting for CMS, through unannounced standard surveys and complaint investigations, with results published on Care Compare.
Complaints go to 1-800-582-4887.
Side by side
| A nursing home is | A nursing home is not | |
|---|---|---|
| Care | 24-hour licensed nursing | Only personal care |
| Ratings | Rated by CMS | Rated by us |
Sources: Arkansas Office of Long Term Care assisted living rules, the Health Services Permit Agency's Bed Need Book, Arkansas DHS waiver and PACE fact sheets, CMS, CareScout and VA rate tables, each cited in the text. Our editorial standards explain how we check them.
