There are four levels of care provided by these facilities: a Residential Care Facility I (RCFI), a Residential Care Facility II (RCFII), an Intermediate Care Facility (ICF), a Skilled Nursing Facility (SNF). Depending on the level of care your loved one requires, you will want to choose the most appropriate type of facility. View a short description of each of the four types of nursing facilities by using the link to the right.

It is a good idea to visit at least a few nursing homes to make comparisons. Visiting the nursing home allows you to view the care firsthand. If possible, ask the loved one to visit the nursing homes with you in order to determine in which home he or she would be most comfortable.

There are certain questions you may want to ask before deciding which nursing home would be the best for your loved one. View the list of questions to ask when choosing a nursing home by clicking the link to the right.

To locate a nursing home or long-term care facility in your area, use the Search feature of the website for the Department of Health and Senior Services. You may search by county, city, or zip code. The search engine will pull up a list of names of facilities in the area you’ve searched for, describe which type of facility it is and display the results of its most recent inspection.

You may also call 2-1-1 to locate a nursing facility in your area, or you may search the 2-1-1 database online, under Health Care, then Inpatient Health Facilities where you can locate Intermediate Care Facilities, Nursing Facilities and Skilled Nursing Facilities.

The State of Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services is a good resource to aid in the process of selecting a nursing home for your loved one.