Homeland Center, a licensed not-for-profit Continuing Care Retirement Community occupying a full block in uptown Harrisburg, has been named a Best Nursing Home by U.S. News & World Report in its 2025 nursing home ratings.

Homeland Center is the only facility in Dauphin County that U.S. News awarded high-performing ratings for both long-term care and short-term rehabilitation and an overall rating of 5 out of 5.

Ratings were determined by nurse staffing, patient outcomes and whether steps known to be effective in avoiding harm and improving health were built into nursing home routines.

“Our number one goal, every day, is to provide the highest quality of care possible,” said Homeland Center President and CEO Barry S. Ramper II. “That is deeply rooted at Homeland. It is how we earn the trust of the residents, patients and families who choose us. It guides everything we do, and we are so honored that our tradition of care has been recognized with a Best Nursing Home rating by U.S. News.”

According to U.S. News, on any given day, about 1.2 million individuals, including 8% percent of individuals age 85 and above, will reside in a U.S. nursing home.

The quality of care provided at the nearly 15,000 U.S. nursing homes (also sometimes called skilled nursing facilities, SNFs, post-acute care or sub-acute care facilities) varies widely. U.S. News ratings are designed to help families research and find a nursing home that excels in the type of care they need.

Occupying a full block in uptown Harrisburg, Homeland Center is a licensed not-for-profit Continuing Care Retirement Community offering personal care, skilled nursing care, memory care, and short-term rehabilitation. Homeland at Home, a community outreach program of Homeland Center, provides hospice care (compassionate end-of-life care), home health services (in-home physician-ordered medical treatment), home care services (in-home non-medical daily living assistance) and palliative care (comfort and relief from the symptoms and stress of serious illness).

Homeland’s tradition of care began 157 years ago after the Civil War. Eighteen women from nine churches in the city of Harrisburg came together to consider what could be done to help orphans and widows. In 1867, the group chartered the “Society for the Home for the Friendless” and raised funds to begin operating what today is Homeland Center and Homeland at Home.