Greensboro Senior AdvisorDoes North Carolina license memory care separately?
No. Dementia units exist as special care unit beds that DHSR approves as part of an adult care home's or nursing home's license under 10A NCAC 13F .1300.
Across the three counties, 17 adult care homes hold special care unit beds (655 beds in all, from DHSR's October 28, 2026 list), and 4 nursing homes add 66 more.
How do we know a Greensboro home really has a memory care unit?
Check DHSR's special care unit list, which our memory care directory reproduces; a home without special care unit beds on that list has no licensed dementia unit, whatever its website says.
Ask for the written disclosure statement every special care unit must provide under G.S. 131D-8.
What is in a special care unit disclosure statement?
The unit's philosophy, admission, transfer and discharge criteria, care planning, staffing and dementia training, physical design and security, activities, family involvement and costs.
Use it to compare units side by side and to hold the unit to its promises after move-in.
Does Special Assistance pay more for memory care?
Yes. In 2026 Special Assistance pays up to the Enhanced Rate of $1,792 a month for an eligible special care unit resident, compared with the $1,397 Basic Rate for an ordinary adult care home bed.
The unit must accept Special Assistance, so ask before moving in.
Can someone with dementia live in an ordinary adult care home?
Yes, often for years, as long as the person is safe in an open building and the home can meet the needs in the care plan; wandering or exit-seeking usually signals the need for a special care unit.
Ask each home which symptoms it can manage and which would lead to a discharge notice.
What does memory care cost around Greensboro?
No memory care median is published for North Carolina or the Triad; special care units usually cost more than standard assisted living in the same building, so get written rates.
CareScout's 2025 North Carolina assisted living median of $6,200 a month is the closest benchmark.
Can a nursing home have a memory care unit?
Yes. A few nursing homes in the three counties hold special care unit beds, for residents with dementia who also need nursing care.
Our memory care directory lists them alongside the adult care home units.
How do we compare two memory care units in Greensboro?
Put their written disclosure statements side by side, then compare DHSR star ratings, recent inspection documents, third-shift staffing inside each unit and how each handles residents whose needs increase.
Visit both in the late afternoon, when agitation is often at its highest, and watch how staff respond to residents rather than how the building looks.
