Bear Creek Retirement Community

Last verified: October 2026 against CDPHE's registry and Find and Compare record.

License and contact information

View the CDPHE inspection record

Is Bear Creek Retirement Community in Lakewood licensed by the State of Colorado?

Yes. Bear Creek Retirement Community holds an active Assisted Living Residence license from the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE), Facility ID 2304DC, for 142 resident beds at 3151 S. Wadsworth Blvd., Lakewood, CO 80227. CDPHE's registry, last updated September 29, 2026, lists it as Active, with private pay as the payor source on record.

The licensee CDPHE has on file is BEAR CREEK SENIOR LLC. The licensee is the legal entity answerable to the state; it is often a property-level company, and the brand on the sign may be a separate management company.

Open Bear Creek Retirement Community's record in CDPHE's Find and Compare tool. It shows the inspections, citations and occurrence reports summarized below; click any inspection to read the citation text and the facility's plan of correction.

What does Bear Creek Retirement Community's CDPHE inspection record show?

CDPHE's record for Bear Creek Retirement Community shows 11 inspections and 37 citations between 2023 and 2026. Most of the visits were complaint inspections and revisits, which CDPHE makes after a complaint is filed and again to confirm fixes.

Most recent inspections in CDPHE's list:

• Jul 27, 2026: Change of Ownership (CHOW) (inspection HHLU11)
• Jul 27, 2026: Licensure Complaint (inspection JTZ111)
• Feb 26, 2025: Revisit: Licensure Complaint (inspection 9QNH13)
• Feb 26, 2025: Revisit: Licensure Complaint (inspection CR9E14)
• Feb 26, 2025: Revisit: Licensure and Licensure Complaint (Combined) (inspection J7H612)
• Oct 29, 2024: Revisit: Licensure Complaint (inspection 9QNH12)
• Oct 29, 2024: Revisit: Licensure Complaint (inspection CR9E13)
• Oct 29, 2024: Licensure and Licensure Complaint (Combined) (inspection J7H611)

The list includes a change of ownership (CHOW) inspection. When a building changes hands, ask what changed in staffing, pricing and the care-level fee schedule, and whether existing residency agreements carried over.

For context, the median among the 38 large metro communities we profile is 16 citations over the same window, so Bear Creek Retirement Community's count is on the high side. Read the citation text: one complaint visit can produce several citations about a single incident, and the plan of correction shows what the residence committed to change.

What incidents has Bear Creek Retirement Community reported to CDPHE?

Bear Creek Retirement Community filed 51 occurrence reports with CDPHE between 2023 and 2026, about 36 per 100 licensed beds. Occurrences are incidents a facility must report to the state itself, such as an abuse allegation or a resident going missing; a report is not a finding of fault.

The most recent reports CDPHE lists, by category:

• Jul 18, 2026: Sexual Abuse
• Jul 10, 2026: Neglect
• Jun 26, 2026: Sexual Abuse
• Jun 13, 2026: Neglect
• May 27, 2026: Physical Abuse

That rate is above the median of 13 per 100 beds among the large metro communities we profile. Residences that serve more people with dementia tend to report more, and prompt reporting is itself required, so ask what the residence learned from recent reports rather than judging the count alone. Each report in CDPHE's tool opens a summary of what happened and what the facility did.

How large is Bear Creek Retirement Community compared with other assisted living in Lakewood?

Bear Creek Retirement Community is licensed for 142 beds, more than 95% of the 421 active assisted living residences in the seven-county Denver metro, where the median is 12 beds. It is the No. 3 by size of the 43 CDPHE-licensed ALRs with a Lakewood address.

Jefferson County has 130 active ALRs with 4,080 licensed beds in total. 32 of the 43 in Lakewood are small homes of 16 beds or fewer, usually a converted house with a few caregivers rather than a purpose-built community. A community the size of Bear Creek Retirement Community usually has more on-site services and a fuller activity calendar; a small home usually offers more one-on-one attention and a quieter setting.

Does Bear Creek Retirement Community accept Health First Colorado (Medicaid)?

Not according to CDPHE. Bear Creek Retirement Community is licensed as an Assisted Living Residence without Alternative Care Facility certification, and the payor source on record is private pay. Families using Health First Colorado's HCBS-EBD waiver need one of the 148 ACF-certified residences in the metro.

Jefferson County's human services office takes Health First Colorado long-term care applications; here is how the HCBS-EBD waiver works.

Does Bear Creek Retirement Community offer memory care?

CDPHE's public data does not say whether Bear Creek Retirement Community runs a secure memory-care area, because Colorado licenses memory care under the same ALR license. Ask the residence directly, and if it does, request its written secure-environment disclosure under 6 CCR 1011-1, Chapter 7, Part 25.

The disclosure is required by 6 CCR 1011-1, Chapter 7, Part 25; a residence that runs a secure area should hand it over without hesitation.

How much does assisted living cost near Bear Creek Retirement Community?

CDPHE does not publish prices, and we do not list a price for Bear Creek Retirement Community. Across the Denver metro in 2026, assisted living typically runs about $3,200 to $5,800 a month and secured memory care about $4,500 to $7,800, before care-level charges.

Ask for the base rent, the care-level fee schedule, the community fee and the last two years of rate increases in writing. Compare with assisted living costs in Lakewood.

Which hospitals are closest to Bear Creek Retirement Community?

The closest acute-care hospital to Bear Creek Retirement Community is St. Anthony Hospital in Lakewood, about 4.7 miles away in a straight line, using CDPHE's own facility locations.

• St. Anthony Hospital, 11600 W 2nd Pl, Lakewood, CO 80228: 4.7 mi
• OrthoColorado Hospital at St. Anthony Medical Campus, 11650 W 2nd Pl, Lakewood, CO 80228: 4.7 mi
• HCA HealthONE Swedish, 501 E Hampden Ave, Englewood, CO 80113: 5.3 mi

Paramedics choose the destination in an emergency, but planned care follows your parent's doctors, so check which system they belong to.

What other licensed assisted living is near Bear Creek Retirement Community?

There are 26 other CDPHE-licensed assisted living residences within three miles of Bear Creek Retirement Community. The nearest is Flourish Supportive Living at Reed, about 0.4 miles away, with 10 licensed beds.

• Flourish Supportive Living at Reed, Lakewood: 10 beds, CDPHE ID 2304KB, 0.4 mi
• Flourish Supportive Living at Reed, Lakewood: ? beds, CDPHE ID 23G122, 0.4 mi
• Learning Services Bear Creek, Lakewood: 15 beds, CDPHE ID 23R199, 0.5 mi
• Hawkeye Care Home, Denver: 8 beds, CDPHE ID 23K615, 1.0 mi
• Lakewood Littleton Assisted Living, Lakewood: 16 beds, CDPHE ID 23H519, 1.5 mi
• Rocky Mountain Assisted Living Quincy Avenue Memory Care Facilities, Lakewood: 16 beds, CDPHE ID 23F494, 1.5 mi

How should you evaluate Bear Creek Retirement Community before choosing it?

Start with the public record, then visit twice. For Bear Creek Retirement Community specifically, ask for the statement of deficiencies from its most-cited inspection and the plan of correction, and ask what changed after the ownership change.

Go once at lunch and once after 6 p.m. Notice how caregivers speak to residents, how long requests take, and whether the administrator knows residents by name. You can also call the Colorado Long-Term Care Ombudsman (303-862-3524) about any residence.

What should you ask on a tour of Bear Creek Retirement Community?

Bring questions the CDPHE record can't answer: night staffing, how Bear Creek Retirement Community decides a resident needs more care, and how the monthly fee changes when it does.

• What changed in staffing, pricing or policies after the recent change of ownership?
• What happens to my parent's apartment and care plan during a hospital or rehab stay?
• How many caregivers are awake and on the floor overnight, and how does that change on weekends?
• How do you respond to a fall at 2 a.m. — who checks on the resident, and when is family called?
• Which entity holds the CDPHE license, and has ownership or management changed in the last two years?
• What care needs would require a move out of assisted living, and how much notice do you give?
• How do residents raise a concern, and how quickly is it answered?
• How long have the administrator and the director of resident care been in their roles?