Assisted Living Facilities in Virginia

A Caregiver's Guide to Assisted Living Facilities in Virginia

What they're called

Official name: Assisted Living Facilities

Common name: Assisted living facilities

To compare assisted living to board and care, skilled nursing, and other long-term residential care communities, see Residential Care Options: How to Decide.

What they offer

• Individual or shared (up to four persons; up to two persons for facilities approved after December 28, 2006) living units (from single rooms to multiroom apartments) with some cooking facilities; bathrooms may be shared
• All meals, usually in a common dining area
• General supervision
• Management of and administration of or assistance with medications
• Personal care services, including assistance with activities of daily living (ADLs) such as eating, dressing, and bathing
• Social and exercise activities

Note: Some facilities also offer respite care and other special services.

What they cost

Median monthly fees: $3,705 (higher for residents requiring memory care)

State of Virginia requirements

• If a resident needs skilled nursing care, it must be provided by a licensed nurse employed by the facility or by an outside licensed nurse or home healthcare agency contracted by the resident.
• A licensed healthcare professional must perform a review every six months of all medications taken by a resident.

State of Virginia oversight

The Virginia Department of Social Services, Division of Licensing Programs (804-726-7154) oversees assisted living facilities.

How to resolve problems or offer feedback

• Contact the regional office near you of the Virginia long-term care ombudsman program, or call the central office at 804-565-1600; this is a free service to help residents informally resolve problems with a facility.
• To register a complaint about a facility, you can do so on the telephone complaint line of Virginia's Department of Social Services, Division of Licensing Programs at 800-543-7545.
• Rate and review assisted living facilities.

How to pay for assisted living in Virginia

• Most assisted living is paid for privately by the resident and/or his or her family.
• For Medicaid-eligible low-income residents ages 55 or older who would otherwise need nursing home care, Virginia's Elderly or Disabled with Consumer Direction waiver program pays for some personal care services provided in participating assisted living facilities.
• For Medicaid-eligible low-income residents ages 55 or older who have Alzheimer's disease or other forms of dementia and would otherwise need nursing home care, Virginia's special Alzheimer's Assisted Living Waiver can pay some of the cost of a participating assisted living facility.
• Low-income veterans or surviving spouses of veterans may be eligible for Aid and Attendance or other payments from the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), which can help pay for assisted living.
• Some assisted living facilities offer sliding scale fees, making a higher level of care available to families that might not otherwise be able to afford it. Be sure to ask -- or ask a geriatric care manager in the area if he or she knows which facilities offer sliding scale fees.

Help finding and choosing a facility

• Hire a geriatric care manager (most have extensive local knowledge about assisted living facilities in a particular geographic area, including space availability, resident needs assessments, sliding scale fees, and resident satisfaction). To find a geriatric care manager, see Caring.com's Senior Living Directory.
• For details about assisted living facilities in each of the 50 U.S. states plus the District of Columbia, see A Caregiver's Guide to Assisted Living Facilities.