Top 10 Best Nursing Homes in Tennessee

Updated as of August 01, 2023

A list of the ten best skilled nursing homes in Tennessee. Based on the Weighted Health Inspection Score developed by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.

Click here to see the worst skilled nursing facilities in Tennessee.

Compare the best Nursing Homes in Tennessee

Every year, thousands of seniors, their families, and friends are faced with the difficult decision of choosing a skilled nursing facility, either because someone is recuperating after a hospital visit or for end-of-life care. This is usually an issue that arises suddenly, and the decision makers are not equipped with the right knowledge and information to make a good decision. Not knowing how to decide, they turn to others for recommendations. Word of mouth, along with geography, are constantly cited as the most important factors in choosing a skilled nursing facility. Choosing a facility with such limited information can lead to significant problems. Not all skilled nursing facilities are the same and the people that you trust to recommend a facility may not know enough about the facility and the alternatives to be a competent guide.

Providing the type of care that residents of skilled nursing facilities require is very difficult. The range of issues that are being treated is vast and the needs cover both people recuperating and recovering as well as those facing end-of-life issues. Residents require significant help with basic daily activities as well as supplemental needs like oxygen and 24/7 monitoring.

To help people who are facing this difficult situation, we have compiled a list of the best Tennessee skilled nursing facilities and the the worst skilled nursing facilities. (We have also compiled the best and worst nursing homes by city for most cities in the United States, links are shown at the bottom on this page.) The lists are based on data provided by The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid (“CMS”) and include information gathered from detailed annual inspections, monthly reporting, complaint histories, deficiency reports and much more.

Just because the facility that you choose is on this list does not mean that you can be complacent either. If you have a loved one in one of these facilities, we encourage you to visit often and to ask that friends and other family visit too. It is well documented that positive outcomes for skilled nursing residents are highly correlated with the number and diversity of people visiting the resident. Being there, getting to know the staff, showing the staff that the resident has people that care about him or her is still critical.

Nursing Home Rating
Fort Sanders Tcu
1901 CLINCH AVE
KNOXVILLE, TN 		0.00
The Waters of Roan Highlands,llc
146 BUCK CREEK ROAD
ROAN MOUNTAIN, TN 		0.00
The Kings Daughters and Sons
3568 APPLING ROAD
BARTLETT, TN 		0.67
Senator Ben Atchley State Veterans' Home
ONE VETERANS WAY
KNOXVILLE, TN 		1.33
Nhc Healthcare, Smithville
825 FISHER AVE
SMITHVILLE, TN 		2.67
Claiborne Health and Rehabilitation Center
1850 OLD KNOXVILLE ROAD
TAZEWELL, TN 		2.67
Nhc Healthcare, Tullahoma
1321 CEDAR LANE
TULLAHOMA, TN 		2.67
Overton County Health and Rehab Center
318 BILBREY STREET
LIVINGSTON, TN 		2.67
Jefferson City Health and Rehab Center
283 W BROADWAY BLVD
JEFFERSON CITY, TN 		3.33
Nhc Healthcare, Johnson City
3209 BRISTOL HWY
JOHNSON CITY, TN 		3.33

Nursing Homes with the warning icon () have been flagged by CMS for abuse.

How We Compile Nursing Home Ratings in Tennessee

Every month, we rank all of the skilled nursing facilities in Tennessee. These rankings are based on data provided by The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid measures ("CMS”), including the CMS 5-Star Rating System and the Health Inspection Scores. The list of the best Skilled Nursing Facilities in Tennessee is based on the weighted overall health inspection score which is a composite of CMS's three most recent skilled nursing home inspection scores weighted to give the most recent inspection more importance.

The CMS 5-Star Rating System rates skilled nursing facilities from one to five stars, with one star being the lowest and five stars being the highest. The rating system also rates Tennessee nursing homes across five different dimensions including overall rating, health inspection rating, quality measures rating, overall staffing rating, and RN staffing rating (RN is an acronym for Registered Nurse).

In addition to the 5-Star Rating System, CMS provides numerical metrics that summarize:

  • Health Inspection Domain. The health inspection rating is based on the three most recent standard surveys for each nursing home, results from any complaint investigations during the most recent three-year period, and any repeat revisits needed to verify that required corrections have brought the facility back into compliance. CMS calculates a weighted deficiency score based on points assigned to health deficiencies identified in each active provider’s current health inspection survey and the two prior surveys (including revisits), as well as deficiency findings from the most recent three years of complaint investigations. More recent surveys are weighted more heavily than older surveys: the most recent period (cycle 1) is assigned a weighting factor of 1/2, the previous period (cycle 2) has a weighting factor of 1/3, and the second prior survey (cycle 3) has a weighting factor of 1/6. The weighted time period scores are then summed to create the survey score for each facility.
  • Staffing Domain. Using multiple reporting methods, CMS calculates the amount of time that the nursing staff spends with residents. This is measured across multiple dimensions, one each for three different levels of nursing, including Registered Nurses (“RNs”), Licensed Practical Nurses (“LPNs”), and Certified Nursing Assistants (“CNAs”), plus one metric that totals all contributions. These metrics are expressed in hours per resident per day. CMS also provides state-level and national averages for the metrics to allow for additional comparisons.
  • Quality Measures Domain. A set of quality measures (QMs) has been developed from MDS-based indicators to describe the quality of care provided in nursing homes. These measures address a broad range of functioning and health status in multiple care areas. The facility rating for the QM domain is based on performance on a subset of 11 (out of 18) of the QMs. Ratings for the QM domain are calculated using the three most recent quarters for which data are available. This time period specification was selected to increase the number of assessments available for calculating the QM rating, increasing the stability of estimates and reducing the number of facilities that do not have enough data to report QM ratings.
  • Abuse Flag. Abuse is always a concern in skilled nursing facilities. To highlight the issue, CMS has extracted this feature as its own flag. Facilities with an actual abuse event or where the potential for abuse has been shown for the past two years are flagged. The Health Inspection Score is capped at 2-stars for nursing homes that have been flagged for abuse.

Skilled nursing facilities that are new and do not have at least two surveys completed are not rated by CMS. These facilities may have health inspection scores that can be used to evaluate the facility.

One complication in Tennessee nursing home inspections is the COVID-19 pandemic. Although inspections should be performed every 12 months, COVID has decreased this frequency. While CMS admits that only in “rare cases” do these inspections increase to 15 months, our analysis suggests that this time frame may be even longer. This report shows that the time between inspections is now just under 500 days (more than sixteen months). There are now hundreds of skilled nursing homes in the United States that have not been inspected in more than 24 months. This list shows the skilled nursing homes with the longest period since being inspected. According to the CMS data, these homes have not been inspected since 2018!

Skilled Nursing Homes in Tennessee Compared to Nationwide

We have compared Tennessee nursing homes to the nationwide average on several metrics. Tennessee performed better than the national average on several metrics and worse on other metrics.

Cycle 1 Total Number Of Health Deficiencies 5.60 Lower
Cycle 1 Total Number Of Fire Safety Deficiencies 2.10 Lower
Cycle 2 Total Number Of Health Deficiencies 4.40 Lower
Cycle 2 Total Number Of Fire Safety Deficiencies 2.80 Lower
Cycle 3 Total Number Of Health Deficiencies 4.40 Lower
Cycle 3 Total Number Of Fire Safety Deficiencies 3.30 Lower
Average Number Of Residents Per Day 79.90 Lower
Reported Nurse Aide Staffing Hours Per Resident Per Day 1.99 Lower
Reported Lpn Staffing Hours Per Resident Per Day 1.13 Higher
Reported Rn Staffing Hours Per Resident Per Day 0.57 Lower
Reported Licensed Staffing Hours Per Resident Per Day 1.70 Higher
Reported Total Nurse Staffing Hours Per Resident Per Day 3.69 Lower
Total Number Of Nurse Staff Hours Per Resident Per Day On The Weekend 3.15 Lower
Registered Nurse Hours Per Resident Per Day On The Weekend 0.35 Lower
Reported Physical Therapist Staffing Hours Per Resident Per Day 0.08 Higher
Total Nursing Staff Turnover 54.90 Higher
Registered Nurse Turnover 50.70 Higher
Number Of Administrators Who Have Left The Nursing Home 0.80 Lower
Case-mix Rn Staffing Hours Per Resident Per Day 0.41 Higher
Case-mix Total Nurse Staffing Hours Per Resident Per Day 3.26 Higher
Number Of Fines 1.30 Lower
Fine Amount In Dollars 35,105.00 Lower
Percentage Of Long Stay Residents Whose Need For Help With Daily Activities Has Increased 16.98 Higher
Percentage Of Long Stay Residents Who Lose Too Much Weight 7.52 Higher
Percentage Of Low Risk Long Stay Residents Who Lose Control Of Their Bowels Or Bladder 53.05 Higher
Percentage Of Long Stay Residents With A Catheter Inserted And Left In Their Bladder 1.62 Higher
Percentage Of Long Stay Residents With A Urinary Tract Infection 3.10 Higher
Percentage Of Long Stay Residents Who Have Depressive Symptoms 10.42 Higher
Percentage Of Long Stay Residents Who Were Physically Restrained 0.15 Higher
Percentage Of Long Stay Residents Experiencing One Or More Falls With Major Injury 3.44 Higher
Percentage Of Long Stay Residents Assessed And Appropriately Given The Pneumococcal Vaccine 88.67 Lower
Percentage Of Long Stay Residents Who Received An Antipsychotic Medication 16.34 Higher
Percentage Of Short Stay Residents Assessed And Appropriately Given The Pneumococcal Vaccine 76.10 Lower
Percentage Of Short Stay Residents Who Newly Received An Antipsychotic Medication 1.94 Higher
Percentage Of Long Stay Residents Whose Ability To Move Independently Worsened 20.74 Higher
Percentage Of Long Stay Residents Who Received An Antianxiety Or Hypnotic Medication 29.24 Higher
Percentage Of High Risk Long Stay Residents With Pressure Ulcers 8.80 Higher
Percentage Of Long Stay Residents Assessed And Appropriately Given The Seasonal Influenza Vaccine 92.93 Lower
Percentage Of Short Stay Residents Who Made Improvements In Function 74.54 Lower
Percentage Of Short Stay Residents Who Were Assessed And Appropriately Given The Seasonal Influenza Vaccine 73.51 Lower
Percentage Of Short Stay Residents Who Were Rehospitalized After A Nursing Home Admission 21.01 Lower
Percentage Of Short Stay Residents Who Had An Outpatient Emergency Department Visit 12.25 Lower
Number Of Hospitalizations Per 1000 Long-stay Resident Days 1.54 Lower
Number Of Outpatient Emergency Department Visits Per 1000 Long-stay Resident Days 1.10 Lower

FAQs About Nursing Homes in Tennessee

How Many Nursing Homes in Tennessee

There are 311 skilled nursing facilities registered with CMS in Tennessee with a total of 35,010 beds. Average occupancy was 70.09% in August 2023.

Below is an analysis of the distribution of skilled nursing facilities and the number of beds in Tennessee:

CMS 5-Star Rating No. of Facilities No. of Beds
5: 36 (12%) 3,381 (10%)
4: 60 (20%) 6,196 (18%)
3: 53 (17%) 6,872 (20%)
2: 71 (23%) 7,854 (23%)
1: 86 (28%) 10,406 (30%)

Best Nursing Homes in the Largest Tennessee Cities

All of the following nursing homes have been given a Weighted Health Inspection Score by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. Every year, nursing homes in Tennessee go through an unannounced inspection performed by independent state examiners. These examiners look at factors such as cleanliness, hazards, and safety to perform the inspection. Points are given to nursing homes based on their deficiency in a certain category. Thus, a higher Weighted All Cycles Score means more problems and lower quality of care.

The list below ranks the homes with the highest (best) weighted scores. The score is shown next to the facility name. The list also shows the two most recent deficiencies for each of the nursing homes.

Best Nursing Homes in Nashville, Tennessee

Best Nursing Homes in Memphis, Tennessee

Best Nursing Homes in Knoxville, Tennessee

Best Nursing Homes in Chattanooga, Tennessee

Best Nursing Homes in Clarksville, Tennessee

Best Skilled Nursing Homes in Other States

See the best skilled nursing homes in other states:

Lots of Healthcare Search Options:

Search for Home Healthcare Agencies

Search for Nursing Homes

Search for Nursing Home Owners & Managers

Search for Dialysis Facilities

Search for Hospitals

Search for Doctors Groups

Search for Doctors

Search for Hospice