The Census Bureau's July 1, 2025 estimates put residents 65 and older at 18.0% of Oklahoma's population of about 4.12 million, which works out to roughly 742,000 people. About two-thirds of them live outside Oklahoma and Tulsa counties, so families often compare communities across county lines and read websites before they ever call.
Most of the rules that shape your website come from two places. The Oklahoma State Department of Health (OSDH) licenses and inspects nursing homes, assisted living centers, residential care homes, home care agencies and hospices. The Oklahoma Health Care Authority (OHCA) runs SoonerCare, the state's Medicaid program, which pays for a large share of long-term care. Families often find your website after talking to one of those agencies, a hospital case manager or the ombudsman, so your pages should use the same terms they do.
One Oklahoma rule speaks to websites directly. If you market a memory care unit or program, state law requires you to post your dementia special care disclosure form on your website. That is covered below.
Who licenses and inspects care in Oklahoma
- Oklahoma State Department of Health, Long Term Care Service
Licenses and surveys nursing homes, skilled nursing facilities, residential care homes, assisted living centers, continuum of care homes and ICF/IID facilities. Surveyors visit each licensed facility for an annual licensure survey and investigate complaints. Staff also handle licensure and complaint investigations for adult day care centers. Official site - Oklahoma State Department of Health, Medical Facilities Service, Home Services Division
Licenses home care agencies, sitter or companion service agencies and hospices. An initial on-site survey decides whether an agency meets the minimum requirements for a license. Official site - Oklahoma Health Care Authority (SoonerCare)
Pays nursing facilities and home and community-based providers under SoonerCare. A nursing facility must hold a current state license under the Nursing Home Care Act to receive OHCA payment, and any new facility must get a Certificate of Need from the State Department of Health. Official site - Oklahoma Human Services, ADvantage program
Offers ADvantage waiver services to eligible adults as an alternative to nursing facility care, and certifies ADvantage provider agencies, including the Assisted Living Service Option. Official site
Programs that help families pay
- SoonerCare nursing home care
SoonerCare helps pay for nursing home care for some people who cannot take care of their needs at home or in the community. It does not pay for everyone, and a resident may have to pay part of their income to the nursing home. People apply through their local Oklahoma Human Services county office, and the nursing home can help with the process. Learn more - ADvantage waiver
A SoonerCare home and community-based services waiver for people 65 and older and adults 19 and older with physical disabilities who need a nursing facility level of care. It helps members live safely at home and may also cover help in a Medicaid-approved assisted living home. To apply, call 800-435-4711 or visit a local DHS county office. Learn more - PACE (Program of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly)
OHCA lists PACE as a program that provides medical services and supports everyday living needs for certain older adults, delivered by a team of staff. Learn more - Nursing facility Pay for Performance
An OHCA quality incentive for nursing facilities that began October 1, 2019 under Senate Bill 280. It uses four long-stay measures taken from CMS data: excessive weight loss, high-risk or unstageable pressure ulcers, urinary tract infections and antipsychotic medication use. Learn more
Long-term care ombudsman
Oklahoma Long-Term Care Ombudsman Program. A division of the Oklahoma Attorney General's Office that serves residents of nursing homes, assisted living and similar adult care homes; complaints go through local Area Agencies on Aging at 1-800-211-2116 or ombudsman.intake.line@ltco.ok.gov.
What a Oklahoma care provider website should show
- State your exact Oklahoma license type (nursing facility, skilled nursing facility, assisted living center, residential care home, continuum of care home, home care agency or hospice). Families and case managers use these words, and they are not interchangeable.
- Link to the OSDH Long Term Care inspection survey search at surveys.health.ok.gov so families can read your surveys themselves. Nursing homes, home health agencies and hospices can also link to Medicare Care Compare.
- If you market memory care through a specific unit or program, post your Alzheimer's and dementia special care disclosure form on your website. State law requires it.
- Publish the ombudsman intake line, 1-800-211-2116, on your contact or resident rights page.
- List the OSDH Long Term Care complaint line, (405) 426-8200 or LTC@health.ok.gov, alongside your own grievance process.
- Say plainly whether you accept SoonerCare, and if you are an ADvantage provider or an ADvantage assisted living option, say so in those words.
Memory care disclosure belongs on your website
Oklahoma's Alzheimer's and dementia special care disclosure law (63 O.S. § 1-879.2c) applies to any nursing facility, residential care facility, assisted living center, adult day care center or continuum of care facility that advertises or markets itself as offering care especially suited to people with Alzheimer's or other dementia. Those facilities must file a disclosure on a form developed by the State Department of Health, and give it to the Department, to the family considering placement and to the State Long-Term Care Ombudsman.
The 2021 amendment, House Bill 1794, added a website rule: any facility that offers specialized memory or dementia care through a specific unit or program must post the disclosure form on the facility's website. Senate Bill 1502, approved in May 2026 and effective November 1, 2026, keeps the website requirement and adds a poster in the memory care unit telling families they may file a complaint with the Attorney General's Consumer Protection Unit if they did not get a copy of the form.
In practice, that means a memory care page should link to a current PDF of your filed disclosure, and the PDF should match what you actually provide. The Department reviews the disclosure during inspections. Confirm the details with your compliance officer or counsel, since this is a summary of the statute and not legal advice.
Inspection results are public, so point families to them
OSDH surveyors conduct an annual licensure survey in each licensed long-term care facility and make follow-up visits to confirm deficiencies were corrected. The results are searchable at surveys.health.ok.gov. Families who are serious about a placement will find them whether you link to them or not.
A short page that explains how to read a survey, links to your latest results and says what you changed after any citations tends to build more trust than silence. If you take part in OHCA's Pay for Performance program, your quality work on weight loss, pressure ulcers, infections and antipsychotic use is also worth describing in plain words, without claiming results you cannot document.
SoonerCare and ADvantage questions come up early
Many Oklahoma families start with money. OHCA's own page tells them SoonerCare does not pay for everyone's nursing home care and that they may owe part of their income, so a clear payment page saves your admissions team a lot of phone time.
Home care agencies and assisted living communities that serve ADvantage members should explain what ADvantage is, who qualifies (people 65 and older, or adults 19 and older with physical disabilities who need a nursing facility level of care) and that applications start at 800-435-4711 or a local DHS county office. Point to the OHCA long-term services page rather than restating income limits, which change.
Veterans homes are part of the picture
The Oklahoma Department of Veterans Affairs runs veterans homes in Ardmore, Claremore, Clinton, Lawton, Norman, Sallisaw and Sulphur, licensed by OSDH. If you serve veterans, families comparing options will often know about these homes. A page that explains VA benefits you accept and how you work with veterans' families helps you stay in the conversation.
Questions
Who licenses assisted living in Oklahoma?
The Oklahoma State Department of Health, through its Long Term Care Service. It licenses assisted living centers, residential care homes, nursing homes and continuum of care homes, and conducts annual licensure surveys.
Who licenses home health and hospice agencies in Oklahoma?
The Home Services Division of OSDH's Medical Facilities Service licenses home care agencies, sitter or companion agencies and hospices. You can reach it at (405) 426-8470 or medicalfacilities@health.ok.gov.
Does Oklahoma require memory care information on a facility website?
Yes. Under 63 O.S. § 1-879.2c, a facility that offers specialized memory or dementia care through a specific unit or program must post its dementia special care disclosure form on its website. Check the current statute with your compliance officer or counsel.
Where can families see Oklahoma nursing home inspection reports?
On the OSDH Long Term Care survey search at surveys.health.ok.gov. Nursing homes certified by Medicare or Medicaid also appear on Medicare Care Compare.
How does someone apply for the ADvantage waiver?
OHCA says to call 800-435-4711 or go to a local DHS county office. The program serves people 65 and older and adults 19 and older with physical disabilities who need a nursing facility level of care.
Sources
- Oklahoma State Department of Health: Long Term Care Service
- Oklahoma State Department of Health: Nursing Homes and Assisted Living
- OSDH Medical Facilities Service: Home Services Division licensure applications and forms
- OSDH Long Term Care inspection surveys
- Oklahoma Attorney General: Long-Term Care Ombudsman
- Oklahoma Health Care Authority: Long Term Services and Supports
- Oklahoma Health Care Authority: Pay for Performance
- OHCA policy 317:30-5-124: Facility licensure
- Oklahoma Human Services: ADvantage program
- Oklahoma Legislature: HB 1794 (2021), enrolled
- Oklahoma Legislature: HB 1794 bill history
- Oklahoma Legislature: SB 1502 (2026), enrolled
- Oklahoma Legislature: SB 1502 bill history
- Oklahoma Department of Veterans Affairs: Veterans Homes
- U.S. Census Bureau QuickFacts: Oklahoma and selected counties
- Medicare: Care Compare
General information, not legal advice. Rules change: confirm details with the agency or your counsel.
