Covenant Living at the Shores health center honored for high performance

Published 2:30 pm Monday, December 8, 2025

At Covenant Living at the Shores on Mercer Island, the service creed is creating joy and peace of mind for residents, employees and families by providing a better way of life, said executive director Dan Scansen.

Last month, the Shores received a big win when its 43-bed health center was recognized as one of the best nursing homes in Washington for 2026 by U.S. News & World Report.

The facility is one of 45 in Washington — out of 194 nursing homes and skilled nursing facilities in the state — to receive a “high performance” designation in both short-term rehabilitation and long-term care based on patient and resident outcomes, such as hospital readmission rates; staffing levels; health inspection results and other indicators of quality, according to a press release.

“We need more good news like this. There’s a lot of hard parts about what we do, so this is good motivation and something that I was excited to bring to our residents and to our whole team as a job well done,” Scansen said of the highest level of recognition that the publication bestows upon the facilities.

U.S. News’s chief of health analysis and managing editor Ben Harder said they’re proud to spotlight exceptional nursing homes across the country.

“U.S. News’ annual Best Nursing Homes ratings are designed to place the needs of patients and residents at the center of the selection process, equipping families with reliable, fact-driven metrics when making crucial care decisions,” he said.

Scansen, who has worked in senior living for the last 18 years, learned about the recognition from the Covenant Living central office team that connects with its host of nationwide communities. He’s been the Shores’ executive director for the last four and a half years after serving in that same role at Island House on Mercer Island for about five years.

“I knew about the Shores, and for me, the draw was the intersection of my career path, but also with my faith,” Scansen said of the faith-based nonprofit organization that offers all levels of care and has about 330 residents and about 170 employees on Mercer Island.

When it comes to staff at the continuing care retirement community, Scansen said he’s got an incredible team on his side: “We, like many providers in healthcare, went through our challenges coming through and out of COVID, certainly. But we feel like we’re on the other side of that, and our staffing is very stable now.”

With its highly selective annual evaluation of nearly 15,000 nursing homes nationwide, U.S. News recognizes fewer than 19% of those facilities as best nursing homes as part of its 2026 ratings, according to a press release.

“This designation is reserved only for facilities that satisfy U.S. News’ rigorous, proprietary assessment criteria demonstrating a consistent and superior commitment to quality patient and resident care,” the publication said.

Scansen said the Shores can be proud of earning that designation.