Jacob Healthcare Center
Photo enhanced with AI for illustrative purposes
Jacob Healthcare Center is a skilled nursing and post-acute rehabilitation facility at 4075 54th Street in San Diego's El Cerrito neighborhood, San Diego County.
The campus operates under two California licenses. The skilled nursing facility is licensed by the California Department of Public Health for 128 beds, holds CMS Certification Number 55508, and carries a 5-star Overall Rating from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. The assisted living and memory care unit is licensed separately by the California Department of Social Services for 40 residents under license number 374604815, issued December 31, 2024.
Joseph Cruz serves as administrator. The skilled nursing facility has operated since 1996 and is part of the Links Healthcare Group network; the 40-bed RCFE unit is licensed to Utah Lake Holdings, LLC. The facility participates in Medicare and Medicaid, with monthly costs ranging from approximately $1,425 to $8,667 depending on level of care.
Facility Snapshot
| Detail | Value |
| Address | 4075 54th Street, San Diego, CA 92105 |
| County | San Diego |
| Neighborhood | El Cerrito |
| SNF Beds | 128 (CDPH-licensed) |
| Assisted Living Beds | 40 (CDSS-licensed) |
| CMS Rating | 5 stars |
| CMS Certification Number | 55508 |
| RCFE License Number | 374604815 |
| RCFE License Date | December 31, 2024 |
| Licensee (RCFE Unit) | Utah Lake Holdings, LLC |
| Administrator | Joseph Cruz |
| SNF Established | 1996 |
| Phone | (619) 582-5168 |
What Type of Facility Is Jacob Healthcare Center?
Jacob is a hybrid campus. The larger and primary part is a 128-bed skilled nursing facility focused on post-acute rehabilitation, subacute care, and long-term care for residents who need 24-hour clinical supervision.
The 40-bed assisted living and memory care wing is a separate license that serves seniors who do not need skilled nursing but benefit from supervised care, medication management, and a structured environment. The RCFE license was issued in December 2024, making this a recently added wing on a long-established skilled nursing campus.
Having both licenses on one campus matters for families: a parent can transition from rehab to assisted living, or move up to skilled nursing if their condition declines, without changing buildings.
What Services Does Jacob Healthcare Center Provide?
The campus covers clinical, rehabilitation, and supportive services across both the skilled nursing and assisted living wings.
Clinical and Medical Services
24-hour skilled nursing supervision
Subacute care for residents recovering from serious illness or injury
Wound care, including treatment for complex and chronic wounds
Respiratory care for residents with COPD, asthma, and cardiopulmonary conditions
Medication management and administration
Rehabilitation Services
Post-acute and short-term rehabilitation following hospital discharge
Physical therapy
Occupational therapy
Speech therapy
Outpatient rehabilitation for residents transitioning back to independent living
Supportive and Daily-Living Services
Memory care for residents with Alzheimer's and other forms of dementia
Social services and discharge planning
Activities, outings, and psychosocial programs
What Is the CMS Rating and What Does It Mean?
How CMS Rates Skilled Nursing Facilities
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services rate every Medicare-certified skilled nursing facility on a 1-to-5 scale. The Overall Rating combines three measures: health inspection results, staffing levels, and quality measures. Ratings update quarterly and are publicly available through Medicare.gov.
How Jacob Healthcare Center Performs
Jacob carries a 5-star Overall CMS rating, putting it in the top 10% of skilled nursing facilities nationwide. Total nursing time per resident is 4.7 hours daily, above both California and national averages. The 30-day rehospitalization rate sits around 22%, in line with the national benchmark for short-stay residents.
The rating applies to the skilled nursing portion of the campus. CMS does not rate RCFE-licensed assisted living units, so the 40-bed memory care wing falls outside this rating system.
How Does Memory Care Work in a Mixed-Use Campus?
The 40-bed assisted living and memory care unit operates with its own staff, routines, and physical setup. For families considering Jacob specifically for a parent with Alzheimer's, the relevant features are secure access to prevent wandering, structured daily routines, and care teams trained on cognitive changes.
Choosing the right placement for a parent with dementia is its own decision. Options range from small RCFEs with six beds to large memory care campuses with dedicated wings. Placement consultants such as Assisted Living Solutions work with families across San Diego County to compare licensed communities by acuity, budget, and specific clinical needs – including Alzheimer's-specific environments.
How Is On-Site Medical Care Arranged for Residents?
A skilled nursing facility has its own clinical team for direct nursing care, but residents still need outside physician visits for primary care follow-ups, specialist consultations, and routine checkups beyond what the in-house staff handles.
Doctor2me physicians visit residents directly at the facility. Same-day or scheduled house calls cover routine checkups, chronic condition follow-ups, urgent issues that do not warrant an ER trip, and the LIC 602 evaluations that admission to the assisted living wing requires. Families can pick a specific physician from the Doctor2me provider directory when continuity with a known doctor matters.
How Do Residents Get to Outside Appointments?
Not every appointment can happen in-facility. Specialist consultations, imaging, dialysis, infusion centers, and follow-ups with surgeons usually require travel.
For wheelchair-bound or non-ambulatory residents, regular taxis and rideshare are not practical or safe. Non-emergency medical transportation (NEMT) services handle these trips with wheelchair-accessible vehicles, trained drivers, and door-through-door assistance. Providers such as MediZoom Transportation – a veteran-owned NEMT service operating in Ventura County and surrounding areas in California – are an example of this category, with options for ambulatory and wheelchair transport, hospital discharges, and recurring trips for dialysis or chemotherapy.
In San Diego County specifically, families typically arrange NEMT through local providers; the discharge planner or social worker at Jacob can recommend vetted options for the area.
Where Is Jacob Healthcare Center?
Jacob is in the El Cerrito neighborhood of central San Diego, near the intersection of 54th Street and University Avenue, ZIP code 92105. The setting is urban – middle-density residential with retail and pharmacy access within walking distance.
Villaview Community Hospital is 0.16 miles away. Kaiser Permanente Vandever Medical Offices is about 2.9 miles away. The CDSS Community Care Licensing Division handles regional inspections of the assisted living unit through its San Diego Regional Office under Title 22 of the California Code of Regulations. The skilled nursing facility falls under CDPH oversight and CMS federal certification.
Families based in central San Diego, La Mesa, Lemon Grove, El Cajon, or Chula Vista find the campus within a 15–25 minute drive.
How Do Families Pay for the Move?
The clinical side of admission is one part. The financial side is the other, and the rules differ between the skilled nursing and assisted living wings.
Paying for Skilled Nursing Stays
For skilled nursing stays following a hospital admission, Original Medicare typically covers up to 100 days of care after a qualifying 3-day inpatient stay. Beyond Medicare, payment options include Medicaid (Medi-Cal in California), long-term care insurance, and private pay.
Paying for the Assisted Living Wing
The 40-bed RCFE unit is private pay; Medicare does not cover assisted living costs in California. Most assisted living moves in the state involve some combination of a current home that needs to be sold, a Social Security and pension stream that does not cover the monthly cost, and a first-month payment that lands before the home sale closes.
Bridge loans and Home Equity Conversion Mortgages – products designed for senior homeowners – close the gap. Specialists such as Senior Home Transitional Services advise families on these options, including the implications for estate planning and Medi-Cal eligibility.
Running the numbers before the move-in date is the recommended order.
Local Resources for San Diego County Families
Services families often line up alongside placement at Jacob Healthcare Center: on-site physician visits and LIC 602 paperwork through Doctor2me; placement consulting for assisted living and memory care across San Diego County through Assisted Living Solutions; non-emergency medical transportation in California through MediZoom Transportation; and financial planning for senior home transitions through Senior Home Transitional Services.
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Address: 4075 54th Street, San Diego, CA 92105