Essex Meadows

Is Essex Meadows a licensed assisted living provider in Connecticut?

Yes. Care at Essex Meadows, 30 Bokum Rd, Essex, CT 06426, is provided under Connecticut DPH Assisted Living Services Agency license ALSA.0000251, held by Essex Meadows. The license is active and runs to December 31, 2027.

In Connecticut the license belongs to the care agency, not the building. The apartments are a Managed Residential Community that registers with DPH; the ALSA is the entity DPH surveys and can discipline, so its license number is the one to check.

How long has Essex Meadows held its DPH license?

The current license was issued March 15, 2024. DPH records show 2 earlier assisted living licenses at the same address, most recently Essex Meadows (ALSA.0000206, now closed), so the community has changed hands or names before.

• Essex Meadows — ALSA.0000206, issued December 3, 2018, now closed
• Essex Meadows — ALSA.0000105, issued January 1, 2009, now closed

A new license number usually follows a change of owner or operator. Ask who the current owner and management company are, what changed in staffing after the transition, and whether residency agreements were reissued.

Has DPH taken enforcement action against Essex Meadows?

None reported. Essex Meadows does not appear in any DPH Regulatory Action Report from 2022 through 2026 or on DPH's Health Care Facility Regulatory Action Orders page, the two places DPH publishes consent orders, fines and other formal actions.

DPH surveys ALSAs for licensure and investigates complaints, but it does not post routine ALSA inspection reports online; a 2024 legislative audit recommended a public, searchable source for them, and it has not been built. To see the latest survey, ask the agency for its most recent DPH survey letter and any plan of correction. Agencies receive these directly and can share them.

Check the license yourself in the eLicense License Lookup (number 251), and report a concern through DPH's complaint portal.

Does Essex Meadows offer memory care?

Essex Meadows does not list a memory care unit in its published information, so plan on traditional assisted living only unless the community confirms a DPH-approved dementia special care unit or program in writing.

Connecticut law (CGS § 19a-562) requires every dementia special care unit to give families a written disclosure covering its philosophy, placement and discharge criteria, staffing ratios and training, the physical setting, activities and extra fees. Ask for it before you tour. Since 2022 each ALSA must also file a list of its units and a staffing plan with DPH (DPH Blast Fax 2022-2).

3 other agencies in Middlesex County list memory care, including Benchmark at South Farms, Commonwealth Senior Living at Haddam, Ocean Meadow Senior Living & Memory Care. See the memory care list.

Care levels checked October 24, 2026 at essexmeadows.com · portal.ct.gov.

Where is Essex Meadows located in Essex, CT?

Essex Meadows is at 30 Bokum Rd, Essex, CT 06426, in Middlesex County. Hospitals families in Essex commonly use include Middlesex Health Shoreline Medical Center (Westbrook) and Middlesex Health (Middletown).

Essex is a lower Connecticut River town off Route 9, near the Shoreline.

Essex Meadows is the only licensed assisted living agency based in Essex on the current DPH list.

If needs later go beyond assisted living, Essex has 1 DPH-licensed nursing home (LCS Essex Meadows Health Center); see the nursing home list.

Veterans and surviving spouses are served by VA Connecticut (Newington campus) and may qualify for VA Aid & Attendance toward assisted living costs.

How does Essex Meadows compare with other assisted living in Middlesex County?

Essex Meadows is one of 6 licensed Assisted Living Services Agencies in Middlesex County. 3 of them list memory care (0 as dedicated memory care communities), and 1 are mid-renewal on the current DPH record.

It is part of a continuing care (life plan) community that files disclosure statements with the Department of Social Services, as 2 of the 6 agencies in the county do. That usually means independent living, assisted living and a nursing center on one campus, and an entrance-fee contract to read carefully.

Nearby and similar agencies in Middlesex County, from the same DPH records:

*Operator-stated.

How much does Essex Meadows cost per month?

Connecticut does not publish prices for individual assisted living communities, so ask Essex Meadows for its written rate sheet. Across Greater Hartford, this site's 2026 research puts typical assisted living at $6,000–$8,500/mo.

Most communities price rent (the MRC apartment) and care (the agency's services) separately, and care is often tiered by hours or points. Get both in writing, and ask what happens to the care fee after a hospital stay or a fall.

Because it is a continuing care community, ask whether assisted living is available on a monthly rental basis or only under an entrance-fee contract, and request the current DSS disclosure statement, which lists the fees.

HUSKY C Medicaid does not pay assisted living rent. The Connecticut Home Care Program for Elders (CHCPE) can pay for the agency's care services in participating communities; see our CHCPE guide.

What should you ask when touring Essex Meadows?

Start with the license: confirm ALSA.0000251 is the agency providing care, then ask for the latest DPH survey letter, the rate sheet and the residency agreement.

• The license changed from Essex Meadows to the current licensee. What changed in management and staffing?
• What is the full monthly fee for my parent's care level, and what triggers a move to a higher tier?
• How many aides and nurses are on duty overnight, and for how many residents?
• Which care needs would require a move to a nursing home?
• How long have the executive director and the agency's supervisor of assisted living services been in their roles?
• How are medications handled — self-administered, aide-assisted, or given by a nurse — and how are errors tracked?
• Can we take the residency agreement home before paying a deposit?
• Do you accept the Connecticut Home Care Program for Elders (CHCPE) for care services?

Visit twice, once at a meal. If problems come up after move-in, the CT Long-Term Care Ombudsman Program advocates for assisted living residents as well as nursing home residents.

How does moving into Essex Meadows work?

Moving into Essex Meadows starts with a nursing assessment by the agency's registered nurse, who writes the service plan your parent's care is built on; Connecticut rules have the ALSA review that plan at least every 120 days.

• Housing and care terms. The Managed Residential Community's residency agreement covers the apartment and the ALSA's terms cover care; they may be one document or two. Read the admission, discharge and fee-increase terms before paying a deposit.
• Medications. Find out whether your parent will self-administer, get help from certified aides, or have a nurse give medications, since that changes both care and cost.
• Payment. Rent is private pay; long-term care insurance, VA Aid & Attendance and, in participating communities, CHCPE can offset the care portion.
• Life plan contract. Ask whether outside applicants can move directly into assisted living, or only residents already living on campus.

Most moves take two to four weeks once an apartment opens; a hospital discharge can shrink that to days, which is when a second look at the paperwork helps most.

Frequently asked questions