By Pittsburgh Senior Advisor Care Team · October 20, 2026
As of October 28, 2026, 71 DHS-licensed homes in the seven Pittsburgh-area counties hold a secured dementia unit with 2,380 beds. Allegheny County has most of them; Armstrong County has none, and Fayette has one small unit.
How many secured dementia beds are there?
Pennsylvania has no separate memory-care license. Secured dementia care happens in a Secure Dementia Care Unit inside a personal care home or a Special Care Unit inside an assisted living residence, approved by DHS and listed on the home's certificate. Across Allegheny, Westmoreland, Butler, Washington, Beaver, Fayette and Armstrong counties, 71 homes hold one, with 2,380 secured beds.
| County | Homes with a unit | Secured beds | Share of county's licensed beds | Largest unit |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Allegheny | 47 | 1632 | 20% | Concordia of Bridgeville-Memory Care |
| Westmoreland | 9 | 309 | 14% | Mountain View Memory Care |
| Butler | 8 | 248 | 13% | The Arbors at St. Barnabas |
| Washington | 3 | 91 | 10% | Woodside Place of Washington of Presbyterian Seniorcare |
| Beaver | 3 | 77 | 9% | Concordia at Villa St. Joseph Personal Care |
| Fayette | 1 | 23 | 4% | Beechwood Court at Lafayette Manor |
| Armstrong | 0 | 0 | 0% | none |
Why is the supply so uneven?
Secured units cluster where licensed personal care capacity clusters, and that is Allegheny County, home to most of the region's larger personal care homes. Smaller homes in rural counties rarely add a unit, which requires secured exits, admission screening, extra dementia training and enough residents to staff it separately.
For a family in Kittanning or Uniontown, that means the realistic options for secured care are often 20 to 40 miles away.
What should families in Armstrong and Fayette counties do?
Start by deciding how far the main visitor can reasonably drive every week. Then look at units in the neighboring counties: Butler and Westmoreland for Armstrong County families, Westmoreland and Washington for Fayette County families. Our memory care directory sorts every unit by county and size.
In the meantime, adult day programs and the LIFE programs in each county can provide supervised daytime care; Armstrong County's LIFE program is run by Viecare in Kittanning and Fayette's by SeniorLIFE in Uniontown.
Are bigger units better?
Not necessarily. The median unit in the region holds 30 residents. A small unit can feel calmer and staff may know each resident well; a large one may offer more structured activities and more staff on each shift. What matters is who is on the unit at night, how agitation is handled, and what recent DHS inspection reports say.
Ask to see the preadmission screening form and the unit's daily schedule on any tour.
How does a home add a secured unit?
A personal care home that wants to operate a Secure Dementia Care Unit must meet Chapter 2600's secured-unit sections, 2600.231 through 2600.239, covering admission screening, staffing, training and the secured environment, and DHS approval appears on the certificate. An assisted living residence applies for a special care designation under 2800.11(f), with a $150 application fee, and must meet 2800.231 through 2800.239.
Because the unit appears on the certificate, the DHS directory is the reliable way to confirm it exists and to see its licensed capacity.
What happens when a resident's dementia advances?
A secured unit serves people whose main needs are supervision and help with daily activities. When someone needs daily skilled nursing, or behaviors exceed what the unit can safely manage, a move to a nursing home may follow. Ask any unit at the start what would trigger that move and how much notice it gives.
The region's 111 certified nursing homes all admit residents with dementia without needing a separate unit, and our nursing home directory shows their CMS ratings.
How often do secured units have openings?
Bed availability is not in any public data, so the only way to know is to call. Units with fewer beds may have long waits, and openings can appear and disappear within days. Families who expect to need secured care in the next few months often tour two or three units early and stay in touch, rather than waiting for a crisis.
An advisor can track openings across several units at once.
What does secured care cost?
No primary source publishes a memory-care cost median for Pennsylvania; CareScout does not survey the category. Expect a secured unit to cost more than the same home's general personal care rate, and get the rate and every care-level fee in writing.
Medicaid does not pay room and board in a personal care home or assisted living residence, so secured care is mostly private pay.
A secured dementia unit: what it is and is not
| It is | It is not | |
|---|---|---|
| License | a unit on a PCH or ALR certificate | a separate memory-care license |
| Location | mostly in Allegheny County around Pittsburgh | available in Armstrong County |
| Admission | documented dementia diagnosis and screening | open to anyone |
| Cost data | set by each home | a published Pennsylvania median |
Frequently asked questions
Does Pennsylvania license memory care?
Not as a separate license. Secured dementia care is provided in a Secure Dementia Care Unit (personal care homes) or Special Care Unit (assisted living residences) approved by DHS.
How many secured dementia units are in Armstrong County?
None, according to the DHS roster retrieved October 28, 2026.
How do I know if a home's memory care is licensed?
Check the home's DHS directory record or our directory: a licensed unit appears with its capacity.
Is there a published memory care price for Pittsburgh?
No. No primary source publishes a memory-care median for Pittsburgh or Pennsylvania.
