Healthcare Insights

Top 15 skilled nursing facilities by average daily census

Skilled nursing facilities (SNFs) provide inpatient care and short and long-term rehabilitation to elderly patients, especially those who require 24/7 support to transition out of the hospital.

As the U.S. population grows older, SNFs and nursing homes – residential facilities for longer-term, less clinically intensive nursing care – represent an increasingly important part of the care continuum. Most often, these facilities treat common diagnoses like hypertension, COVID-19, and urinary tract infections.

To gain a broader picture of SNF patient populations and how often people are staying at skilled nursing facilities, a metric like an average daily census can give insight into how many people are typically staying at SNFs at any given time.

What is an average daily census?

Average daily census (ADC) is the average number of inpatient beds occupied each day over the course of a year. The most accurate way to calculate ADC is to add the daily patient census for every day of the year, then divide the total by 365.

ADC can be approximated by adding the daily census for every day within a shorter period, a month for example, and dividing that total by the number of days within that period.

The Definitive Healthcare LongTermCareView tracks nearly 17,000 active skilled nursing facilities. Below, we’ve ranked the top 15 skilled nursing facilities by average daily census.

Skilled nursing facilities with the highest average daily census

RankSkilled nursing facilityDefinitive IDCityStateAverage daily censusExplore dataset
1The Plaza Rehabilitation & Nursing Center (FKA the Jewish Home and Hospital/Bronx Division)565291BronxNY687Explore
2Hebrew Home at Riverdale566214RiverdaleNY637Explore
3Isabella Center566409New YorkNY626Explore
4Veterans Home of California Yountville - Skilled Nursing (AKA N M Holderman Memorial Hospital)569007YountvilleCA587Explore
5Kings Harbor Multicare Center572113BronxNY540Explore
6Lakewood - Skilled Nursing563516RichmondVA537Explore
7CC Young Senior Living - Skilled Nursing (FKA Memorial Home)567657DallasTX536Explore
8Goodwin House Baileys Crossroads - Skilled Nursing562021Falls ChurchVA505Explore
9Workmens Circle MultiCare Center563651BronxNY504Explore
10Valle Verde - Skilled Nursing560569Santa BarbaraCA503Explore
11Brookdale Skyline - Skilled Nursing (FKA Skyline Pines Care Center)564355Colorado SpringsCO490Explore
12Cedarbrook Nursing Home - Allentown562580AllentownPA485Explore
13Manhattan Health and Rehabilitation (FKA Manhattan Long-Term Care)564490New YorkNY480Explore
14Boro Park Center561497BrooklynNY477Explore
15The Riverside Premier Rehabilitation & Healing Center564049New YorkNY477Explore

Fig. 1  Data is from the Definitive Healthcare LongTermCareView product. Data accessed August 2023.

Which skilled nursing facilities had the highest average daily census?

The Plaza Rehabilitation & Nursing Center in Bronx, NY has the highest average daily census on the list at 687. Hebrew Home at Riverdale in Riverdale, NY comes in second with an ADC of 637. The third top SNF by average daily census is Isabella Center in New York, NY. Isabella Center has an ADC of 626.

These three top skilled nursing facilities are located in or just outside New York City, which is the most populated city in the country. Additionally, people who live in New York City have the highest life expectancy compared to the rest of the U.S. The large population of people surrounding these facilities, especially a population of people who are generally expected to live longer, may explain the higher number of patients staying at these SNFs. In fact, five more facilities on the list are located in or near New York City, putting just over half of the facilities on the list in this highly populated area.

Why is an average daily census important?

Calculating ADC gives healthcare providers a high-level understanding of their facility’s patient load. This figure can also be used by healthcare vendors or competing providers as market intelligence to understand a facility’s overall patient traffic.

Examining ADC for consecutive periods of time can help to determine when a facility is most busy, or if the level at which patients are using the facility is changing over time. For example, comparing SNF census growth over time could indicate an increase in demand for the facility and the services provided, whereas a decreasing ADC over time would indicate fewer patients seeking services from that facility.

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