9 Nursing Homes In NoVA Among Nation’s Best: U.S. News

VIRGINIA — Nine nursing homes in Northern Virginia are among the nation’s best, according to a new ranking released Tuesday by U.S. News & World Report that sheds light on a nationwide nursing home staffing shortage.

The 2025 Best Nursing Homes report ranks facilities that offer short- or long-term care or assisted living services. Fewer than 20 percent of the nursing homes evaluated made the ranking, U.S. News said in a news release.

There are 134 nursing homes and skilled nursing facilities in the Washington, D.C. area. Of these, 45 were considered high-performing in either short- or long-term care.

Nine of these facilities were in Northern Virginia and received ratings of 5 out of 5. They are:

• Arleigh Burke Pavilion, McLean
• Ashby Ponds, Ashburn
• Belvoir Woods Health Care Center at The Fairfax, Fort Belvoir
• Goodwin House Alexandria, Alexandria
• Goodwin House Bailey's Crossroads, Falls Church
• Greenspring Village, Springfield
• Johnson Center - Falcons Landing, Potomac Falls
• Mountain View Nursing Home, Aroda
• The Jefferson, Arlington

U.S. News evaluated 134 nursing homes in the Washington, D.C. area and ranked 133. Among those, 126 were ranked for long-term care, 130 for short-term care and 123 for both.

In Virginia, 287 nursing homes were evaluated and 65 were considered high-performing facilities in either category. Among all nursing homes, 274 were ranked for long-term care, 277 for short-term care and 264 for both.

U.S. News said 1,637 U.S. cities (out of 5,147) and 715 U.S. counties (out of 1,687) have at least one nursing home on the list.

“These facilities set the standard for quality care and should be commended for their commitment to improving the lives of their residents,” Ben Harder, chief of health analysis and managing editor at U.S. News, said in a news release.

Overall, the evaluation found that more than half of U.S. nursing homes don’t comply with federal regulations requiring at least eight registered nurse staffing hours every day. Among those that did not comply, the average nursing home had 15 days of inadequate staffing, according to the report.

“Staffing levels continue to be a major challenge for U.S. nursing homes,” Harder said.

The short-term rehabilitation facilities that were ranked have an average of 50 percent more nursing care per resident than facilities ranked below average in short-term rehab. The top long-term facilities have double the staff retention rate of nursing homes when compared to underperforming nursing homes, Harder said.

Among other findings:

• The best nursing homes for short-term rehabilitation discharge an average of 50 percent more patients to a residence (rather than a long-term care setting) compared to facilities rated as below average.
• The best nursing homes for long-term care preserve residents’ self-reliance longer: residents are on average 50 percent less likely to lose the ability to perform self-care activities, such as feeding and washing themselves, compared to residents at facilities rated as below average.
• The best nursing homes for long-term care give residents antipsychotic medications 46 percent less of the time compared to facilities rated as below average.
• Residents at the best long-term care facilities are more than 60 percent less likely to require emergency department care compared to residents at facilities rated as below average.

Metro areas with the most nursing homes on the “best” list (in alphabetical order) are Boston, Chicago, Miami-Fort Lauderdale, Minneapolis-St. Paul, New York City, Philadelphia, Phoenix, San Diego, San Francisco-Oakland and Washington, D.C.

To calculate the Best Nursing Homes ratings, U.S. News evaluated each nursing home’s performance using a variety of quality measures obtained from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Service. Among factors considered are resident care, safety, outcomes and other aspects of quality — including data on nurse staffing levels, consistency and retention, as well as use of antipsychotic drugs and success in preventing ER visits.