Greensboro Senior AdvisorBy Greensboro Senior Advisor Care Team · August 27, 2026
17 adult care homes in the three counties hold 655 special care unit beds, and 4 nursing homes add 66 more. Greensboro and High Point hold most of them; 4 buildings are dementia units from end to end.
Why the license matters more than the brochure
Walk into almost any assisted living building around Greensboro and someone will mention memory care. The phrase has no legal meaning in North Carolina. What does have meaning is a special care unit: dementia beds that DHSR has approved as part of an adult care home's or nursing home's license, with a written disclosure statement required by G.S. 131D-8.
That makes the special care unit list the most reliable map of memory care in the Triad. If a building is not on it, it has no licensed dementia unit, whatever its website says.
Every special care unit in the three counties
Here is DHSR's list for adult care homes, largest unit first:
| Home | City | Unit beds | Total licensed beds | DHSR stars |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wellington Oaks | Greensboro | 85 | 85 | 2 stars |
| Richland Square | Greensboro | 70 | 70 | 3 stars |
| The Arboretum at Heritage Greens | Greensboro | 66 | 66 | 4 stars |
| Brookdale High Point North | High Point | 65 | 65 | 3 stars |
| Cross Road Retirement Community | Asheboro | 40 | 152 | 4 stars |
| Brookstone Terrace of Greensboro | Greensboro | 38 | 108 | 4 stars |
| Guilford House | Greensboro | 32 | 60 | 3 stars |
| Westchester Harbour at Providence Place | High Point | 32 | 90 | 4 stars |
| North Pointe of Mayodan | Mayodan | 31 | 70 | 0 stars |
| Spring Arbor of Greensboro | Greensboro | 28 | 100 | 3 stars |
| TerraBella Greensboro | Greensboro | 27 | 125 | 3 stars |
| Brookdale Lawndale Park | Greensboro | 25 | 118 | 3 stars |
| Brookdale Asheboro | Asheboro | 24 | 76 | 3 stars |
| Brookdale Reidsville | Reidsville | 24 | 76 | 4 stars |
| Piedmont Christian Home | High Point | 24 | 93 | 3 stars |
| TerraBella Asheboro | Asheboro | 24 | 96 | 3 stars |
| North Pointe Assisted Living Of Archdale | Archdale | 20 | 56 | 3 stars |
Source: N.C. DHHS Division of Health Service Regulation listings and rating pages, retrieved November 6, 2026. Special care unit counts are from DHSR's list dated October 28, 2026.
Where the beds cluster
By city, the special care unit beds fall like this: Greensboro 371, High Point 121, Asheboro 88, Mayodan 31, Reidsville 24, Archdale 20. Rockingham County's units are in Reidsville and Mayodan; Randolph County's are in Asheboro and Archdale.
Families in Eden, Ramseur or the northern Guilford towns will usually drive to one of those cities. Weigh that drive carefully: the person who visits most is part of the care plan, and a unit thirty minutes away will be visited less than one ten minutes away.
Whole-building dementia homes versus secured wings
4 buildings have as many unit beds as licensed beds, which means the entire home is a special care unit: Wellington Oaks, Richland Square, The Arboretum at Heritage Greens, Brookdale High Point North. Others run a secured wing inside a larger adult care home.
Neither model is better in itself. A dedicated building can design everything around dementia; a wing inside a larger home can let a couple live on the same campus when only one spouse needs the unit. Ask which model each home uses and how residents move between areas.
Nursing homes with dementia units
Some residents need both dementia care and daily nursing. A few nursing homes in the three counties hold special care unit beds on their DHSR license, Friends Homes at Guilford (12 beds), Jacob's Creek Nursing and Rehabilitation Center (20 beds), Ramseur Rehabilitation and Healthcare Center (24 beds), Well-Spring (10 beds). Their CMS ratings and staffing are on each home's page.
If a parent is already in a nursing home for rehab and dementia is part of the picture, ask whether the home has a unit before assuming a move back to assisted living is the plan.
A note on wait lists
The units with the best reputations often have waiting lists, especially for Special Assistance beds. Put your parent's name on two or three lists early; there is usually no cost, and you can decline when a bed opens.
Ask how the list works: first come, first served, or by need. Ask too whether current residents of the same building's assisted living side move to the front of the line.
Questions that separate one unit from another
Ask every unit for its disclosure statement before touring. It must describe the unit's philosophy, admission and discharge criteria, staffing and training, physical environment and activities. Then ask how many staff are inside the unit on third shift, whether they are permanent staff or agency fill-ins, and which changes in a resident's condition would lead to a move.
Ask about money too. Special Assistance pays the higher Enhanced Rate of $1,792 a month in 2026 for eligible special care unit residents, but only in units that accept it. A parent whose savings may run out in two years should be in a unit that does.
Frequently asked questions
Does North Carolina license memory care separately?
No. Dementia units are special care unit beds approved on an adult care home's or nursing home's license.
How many memory care beds are in the Greensboro area?
DHSR lists 655 special care unit beds in adult care homes and 66 in nursing homes across the three counties.
Do family care homes have special care units?
None of the family care homes in the three counties appears on DHSR's special care unit list.
What does memory care cost?
No median is published. Get written rates; Special Assistance's Enhanced Rate applies for eligible residents.
Is a special care unit the same as a locked unit?
A special care unit restricts exit for safety as part of its approved program, but residents keep their rights and the unit must describe its security in the disclosure.
Can a resident move from assisted living into the unit in the same building?
Often, if the building has both and a unit bed is open; ask how transfers between the two work.
