Checking a facility's record yourself

Where can I check an Idaho assisted living facility's license?

Use IDHW's Residential Assisted Living Facility Search, linked from the department's RALF program page and its Find a Facility, Agency, or Service page; search by name, city, ZIP or county and open the facility to see its license, beds and survey history.

The search also filters by resident types (elderly, dementia, developmental disability, mental illness, physical disability, traumatic brain injury), Medicaid acceptance, secured memory care units and HART beds. Our directory reproduces those same fields for every licensed RALF in Ada, Canyon, Gem, Boise and Owyhee counties.

What does each part of the IDHW facility record mean?

The top block gives the license number (RC-), type, effective and expiration dates, status and bed counts; below come resident types, Medicaid, a five-year administrator history, owners, nurse information, enforcement actions and the survey list.

• Secured beds: beds inside a locked memory care area.
• HART beds: beds tied to Idaho's behavioral health program for residents with mental illness.
• Administrator history: frequent changes can signal instability.
• Surveys: each line is a licensure, follow-up, complaint or fire and life safety visit with its result.

How do I check a Boise nursing home's record?

Use CMS Care Compare, which publishes star ratings, inspection results, staffing hours, turnover, fines and payment denials for every Medicare- and Medicaid-certified nursing home; our nursing home pages show those figures with CMS's data date.

CMS lists 24 certified nursing homes in the five Treasure Valley counties with 2,175 certified beds; 24 carry an overall star rating and 8 of those hold four or five stars (Care Compare data as of October 1, 2026).

What can't the public record tell you about a facility?

It does not show prices, current vacancies, the mood of the building, how a particular aide treats residents, or the narrative of a survey report; those you learn by visiting, asking for documents and talking to residents' families.

Ask the administrator for the latest full survey report and plan of correction. Visit twice, once unannounced near a mealtime. And ask the Area 3 ombudsman whether the building is one they visit often.

How recent is the information in IDHW's search?

It is the department's live system, so new surveys and enforcement actions appear as they are entered; our directory copies it at each rebuild and prints the retrieval date on every listing.