Desert Cove Assisted Living at Desert Hot Springs is a licensed residential care community for older adults at 13660 Mountain View Road, Desert Hot Springs, CA 92240. It holds California license number 336426550 and has been licensed since January 2015. For families comparing assisted living in Desert Hot Springs, the campus is licensed for 56 residents, and the administrator on file with the state is Heather Scott.
What Does the Desert Cove Campus Look Like?
The community is laid out as an open campus with 28 apartments that can be used as private or shared living. Each suite has a living area with hardwood floors, a private bathroom with a roll-in shower, a large closet, central heating and air, and a kitchenette with a refrigerator. Every apartment opens onto its own patio facing the San Jacinto mountains.
Shared spaces include a dining room that looks out over the valley, an activity room, a beauty salon, and a putting green. Walking paths run through the grounds, so residents can get outside without leaving the property. Each resident carries an emergency pendant that can be heard across the campus when it is pressed.
What Care Levels Does Desert Cove Offer?
Desert Cove sets care in four levels, and the level is decided by a health assessment done before move-in. Staff run that assessment with input from the resident, the physician, and the family, then review it again as needs change.
What the Base Rate Covers
The basic monthly service plan covers staff on site 24 hours a day, three meals and snacks each day, activities, maintenance, laundry, bed making, and rides to a doctor inside Desert Hot Springs. Trips outside the Coachella Valley carry a mileage fee. A one-time community fee of $2,000 applies at move-in and covers the health assessment, the admission file, and preparing the room.
The Four Levels of Care
Level 1 adds medication management through the house pharmacy. Level 2 covers help with bathing, toileting, and escorting. Level 3 covers incontinence care and brief changes. Level 4 is for residents who are bedbound, use a wheelchair, or need two people to transfer.
This structure is worth understanding before you compare prices. Senior living in Desert Hot Springs is usually quoted by care level rather than as one flat rate, so two communities with similar base rates can land far apart once the level is set.
How Do Families Pay for Assisted Living Here?
Most families pay privately, but Desert Cove lists two programs that can bring the monthly bill down.
The Assisted Living Waiver
Desert Cove takes part in California's Assisted Living Waiver, which lets Medi-Cal pay for care services while the resident pays room and board. The facility bills waiver services per the state fee schedule. Families who want help comparing waiver-friendly options across Riverside County sometimes work with a placement service such as Assisted Living Solutions, which covers the county and handles tours and move-in paperwork.
Veterans Benefits
Veterans and surviving spouses who already qualify for a VA pension may also qualify for Aid and Attendance, which adds money on top of that pension. Desert Cove lists current monthly rates on its site. Ask the community to walk you through what income and assets are counted before you plan around the number.
Public coverage for this kind of housing is limited. The National Institute on Aging (2023) notes that most people pay the costs of assisted living themselves, and that Medicaid coverage depends on the state and on whether the person is eligible.
Is There Memory Care in Desert Hot Springs at Desert Cove?
Desert Cove is licensed as an assisted living community rather than as a separate memory care building, so dementia care here depends on what the current license and staffing allow. Ask about it directly rather than assuming either way.
The community does run a Namaste program, a comfort-focused approach used with residents who have advanced dementia. It leans on calm sensory care – touch, music, scent, and a steady routine – in a quiet setting. The National Institute on Aging (2024) notes that some assisted living facilities have special Alzheimer's units with staff who check on and care for people with dementia, and that extra care can cost more.
If your parent wanders, needs a secured door, or has behaviors that are hard to manage, ask whether the facility holds a dementia care waiver from the state and how caregivers are trained for it. Our guide to red flags when touring assisted living homes covers what to watch for on the visit itself.
What Medical Support Do Residents Get Day to Day?
Licensed vocational nurses are on call, and staff coordinate with each resident's own doctors. Medication use is reviewed with a contracted pharmacist and pharmacy provider.
Home health, hospice, and palliative care come in through outside agencies when they are needed, so a resident does not automatically have to move when health declines. Respite stays and day care are available on site, which gives a family caregiver a break without a permanent decision.
Residents who find it hard to travel for routine appointments can also see a doctor who visits the community. That covers check-ups, medication reviews, follow-ups after a hospital stay, and the paperwork a facility needs on file.
What Is the Area Around the Community Like?
Desert Hot Springs sits at the north end of the Coachella Valley and is a smaller, quieter city than Palm Springs. Mountain View Road is residential, and the surrounding blocks are low-rise, which makes short walks outside manageable for residents who still get around on their own.
Families often compare across the whole valley rather than one town. Cathedral City, Palm Desert, and Palm Springs are all within a short drive, so a parent can move here and stay close to relatives living elsewhere nearby. If you are weighing assisted living in Cathedral City or assisted living in the Coachella Valley more broadly, it helps to tour two or three places on one trip.
Our guides to Hallmark Palm Springs and Pico De Loro in Perris cover two other Riverside County communities, which gives you a sense of how room types and care pricing shift across the county.
How Do You Take the Next Step?
Start with a call and a tour, and bring a short list of questions about care levels and costs. Ask what the monthly rate would be at your parent's assessed level, what the community fee covers, and how a level change gets decided and communicated.
Ask who is awake on site overnight, and what happens if care needs grow past Level 4. Our guide to questions to ask before signing an assisted living agreement covers the contract side, including notice periods and rate increases.
If you would rather not compare communities alone, a placement agency can narrow the list and set up tours for you.
Desert Cove Assisted Living at Desert Hot Springs is at 13660 Mountain View Road, Desert Hot Springs, CA 92240, license number 336426550. The phone number is (760) 671-7820, and the community's own site is desertcoveassistedliving.com.
Sources Used
Alzheimer's Caregiving: Finding Long-Term Care – National Institute on Aging (2024)
Desert Cove- Assisted Living – Desert Cove Assisted Living
Long-Term Care Facilities: Assisted Living, Nursing Homes, and Other Residential Care – National Institute on Aging (2023)
Written by Sofiia Puhach
November 11, 2026
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