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U.S. News & World Report Names SpiriTrust Lutheran® on “Best Senior Living Communities” List for Second Year

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SpiriTrust Lutheran® Life Plan Communities have been recognized once again by U.S. News & World report on its 2023-2024 “Best Senior Living” listing for consumers. Now in its second year, U.S. News’ Best Senior Living ratings evaluated nearly 4,000 communities in the U.S. “Communities that are highly rated excel in making residents feel safe, well cared for and highly satisfied by the services provided,” said Zach Adams, senior health data engineer at U.S. News.

The designation of Best Senior Living is awarded only to those communities that satisfy U.S. News’s objective statistical assessment of each senior living community’s performance. To be included in the analysis, SpiriTrust Lutheran participated in a consumer satisfaction survey, administered between April and November 2022, asking for viewpoints from current residents and family members of residents.

Five SpiriTrust Lutheran Communities earned the “Best” status by achieving the highest possible rating. 

Click on the community names below to view the profile pages created U.S. News.

“All of us at SpiriTrust Lutheran are honored to receive this recognition from U.S News & World Report,” said Melissa Frownfelter, MBA, NHA, PCHA, Chief Operating Officer at SpiriTrust Lutheran. “We understand that families and residents place great importance on the quality of services and quality of life they will experience in a senior living community.  Our team takes great pride in building upon our tradition of excellence, and this distinction is a testament to the hard work and dedication of our team members, as well as the trust they’ve earned from families and residents alike.”

For more about SpiriTrust Lutheran’s Life Plan Communities who received the Best Senior Communities distinction, visit:

About U.S. News & World Report: U.S. News & World Report is the global authority in hospital rankings and consumer advice, conducts these ratings to assist seniors and their families with researching and choosing the best senior living community for them. More than 40 million people visit USNews.com each month for research and guidance on various topics. 

*Understanding the difference between Assisted Living and Personal Care.

Within the U.S. News & World Report’s “Best Senior Living Communities,” “Assisted Living” is used to represent both assisted living and personal care licensures. While The Village at Sprenkle Drive truly offers Assisted Living, The Village at Utz Terrace and The Village at Luther Ridge offer Personal Care.

Prior to 2011, assisted living and personal care were essentially synonymous, interchangeable terms. Some communities called themselves assisting living, but if asked to show their provider license, they would have presented a Personal Care Home certificate. Their offerings would have included support with personal care, meals, housekeeping and transportation. Unfortunately, under the Personal Care licensure, care services were limited to maintaining general health. If an individual required a higher level of nursing care, they would have needed to transition to skilled care, and the cost might have exceeded 2-3x more than personal care.

Today, assisted living and personal care are licensed differently in Pennsylvania. The differentiation first started in 2007 when PA Senate Bill 704 was signed, and then enacted in January 2011 by the Intra-Governmental Council on Long-Term Care. This bill established an assisted living licensure (as a separate form of long-term care in the state of PA). Essentially, assisted living was created to bridge the gap between personal care and skilled nursing so that residents could age in place for a longer period of time before needing to move into a nursing facility, as well as lower the cost care for residents needing advanced care, but not yet skilled care.

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