Alaska Nursing Homes: Violations, Fines and Worst Records

Nationally the average is 3.86 hours, but Alaska leads the country, giving each resident 6.88 total nurse staff hours a day across its 20 facilities. In the state, 2.12 of those daily hours come from registered nurses; the national figure is 0.69 hours. The federal agency CMS publishes these numbers in its Medicare data files. Nationally, 45.8% of nursing staff left within a year; in Alaska the share was 50.4%.

Over the past three inspection cycles, inspectors found 514 total violations at the 20 Alaska facilities. Of those, 22 citations involved actual harm to residents or immediate danger. Alaska's most-cited rule is kitchen and food storage safety, with 35 citations. Since September 2023, CMS has issued federal fines totaling $531,436, spread over five of the state's homes. Issued in December 2025 to Centennial Post Acute in Anchorage, the $155,753 penalty was the largest single federal fine in Alaska.

Basic licensing details appear in the Health Facilities List published by the state Health Facilities Licensing and Certification Unit. Alaska, however, offers no online lookup for complaint findings or nursing home inspection reports. Since the state offers no inspection lookup, the federal reports are where readers can see the inspectors' findings. On Medicare Care Compare, a federal lookup site formerly named Nursing Home Compare, every Alaska facility page points to that home's official inspection reports. Each report is the Form CMS-2567 statement of deficiencies.

To report a concern at an Alaska facility, families can submit it online via the state nursing home complaint page or phone the Alaska Department of Health, Health Facilities Licensing and Certification at 1-888-387-9387. Free help for residents and relatives comes from the Office of the Long Term Care Ombudsman (Alaska), part of the Alaska Mental Health Trust Authority, at 1-800-730-6393. Adult Protective Services takes calls at 1-800-478-9996 about suspected harm to a vulnerable adult in Alaska.