Short stays in San Diego
Respite care in San Diego: short stays in a licensed home
You are allowed to need two weeks off. People ring us about respite in two situations: something is happening — a wedding, an operation, a trip that cannot move again — or nothing is happening and they simply cannot do another month. Both are good reasons and we treat them the same.
The thing that catches people out
A two-week stay takes the same paperwork as moving in for good
A short stay is still an admission, and California does not have a lighter version of it for two weeks. Before she can move in, the home has to carry out a pre-admission appraisal under 22 CCR 87457, and it needs a medical assessment completed by a physician within the last year on form LIC 602A under 87458.
The room is almost never the problem. The doctor's appointment is. That signature cannot be hurried by the family, by the home, or by us — which is why "I'll put her somewhere next weekend" so often turns into another bad two weeks at home instead.
Give it about a week and it is straightforward. If you already know the date, start now.
Before you ring anybody
Which San Diego homes are approved for what she needs
Because a two-week stay is a licensed admission, the same approvals decide it. Of the 195 homes the state licenses in the City of San Diego, on the record read 21 October 2026, 191 carry an approval for at least one resident who cannot walk out of the building unaided and 168 hold a hospice waiver. If she uses a walker or a wheelchair, that first number is the shortlist before anything else is.
One thing the register cannot tell you, and we can: a six-bed house with one free room is usually holding it for somebody permanent, because two weeks of turnover costs it a month of rent. The 33 communities licensed for 25 beds or more are where a short stay is most often possible. That is our read of the market rather than anything the state records, and it is why the list below is the larger end.
| Home | Beds | Non-amb. | Hospice | Visits | A / B |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Vi At La Jolla VillageLicence 374600675 | 783 | 783 | 25 | 30 | 0 / 2 |
| Glen At Scripps Ranch, TheLicence 374603600 | 684 | 340 | 6 | 5 | 0 / 0 |
| Casa De Las CampanasLicence 374600488 | 582 | 227 | 20 | 18 | 0 / 1 |
| Wesley PalmsLicence 374600800 | 511 | 511 | 15 | 13 | 0 / 2 |
| White Sands La JollaLicence 372000641 | 299 | 299 | 5 | 9 | 0 / 2 |
| Silvergate Rancho BernardoLicence 374604323 | 285 | 285 | 50 | 10 | 1 / 0 |
| Casa De MananaLicence 374603439 | 249 | 85 | 12 | 16 | 0 / 0 |
| Belmont Village La JollaLicence 374604562 | 220 | 220 | 20 | 24 | 2 / 4 |
| Novellus Clairemont LLCLicence 374604722 | 214 | 214 | 15 | 27 | 2 / 10 |
| St Paul's ManorLicence 370800558 | 200 | 6 | 3 | 11 | 1 / 11 |
| St. Paul's VillaLicence 370804823 | 200 | 80 | 12 | 18 | 1 / 1 |
| Atria CollwoodLicence 374600890 | 185 | 185 | 10 | 59 | 5 / 24 |
| Vista Del Sol Assisted Living And Memory CareLicence 374605041 | 150 | 150 | 30 | 4 | 0 / 1 |
| Nazareth HouseLicence 372000400 | 145 | 145 | 15 | 9 | 0 / 2 |
| Remington Club IILicence 374604232 | 140 | 82 | 16 | 22 | 0 / 10 |
| Westmont Of Carmel ValleyLicence 374604692 | 138 | 138 | 20 | 9 | 2 / 2 |
| Canyon VillasLicence 372004738 | 133 | 133 | 16 | 16 | 1 / 4 |
| Bayshire Torrey PinesLicence 374604784 | 125 | 125 | 25 | 10 | 1 / 1 |
| Rancho Penasquitos Senior LivingLicence 374604542 | 120 | 120 | 15 | 22 | 2 / 13 |
| Golden Living Health Management, Inc.Licence 374602369 | 113 | 113 | 8 | 60 | 13 / 18 |
| Ivy Park At Sabre SpringsLicence 374604747 | 100 | 100 | 20 | 13 | 0 / 5 |
| Merrill Gardens At Bankers HillLicence 374604405 | 100 | 100 | 15 | 11 | 1 / 2 |
| Oakmont Of Pacific BeachLicence 374604281 | 92 | 92 | 8 | 26 | 0 / 4 |
| Villa LorenaLicence 374603750 | 85 | 85 | 10 | 15 | 1 / 11 |
| Ivy Park At La JollaLicence 374604768 | 76 | 76 | 16 | 7 | 1 / 0 |
| Cloisters Of The Valley, LLCLicence 374604267 | 70 | 70 | 35 | 44 | 7 / 21 |
| Ridgeview Assisted Living CommunityLicence 374604426 | 68 | — | 12 | 18 | 0 / 4 |
| Activcare At 4S RanchLicence 374603714 | 60 | 60 | 20 | 11 | 0 / 1 |
| Activcare At Mission BayLicence 374603584 | 60 | 45 | 15 | 6 | 0 / 1 |
| Revere La JollaLicence 374603724 | 52 | 52 | 12 | 10 | 1 / 2 |
| Avantgarde Senior Living Of La JollaLicence 374604261 | 45 | 45 | 20 | 24 | 4 / 11 |
| Jacob Health Care CenterLicence 374604815 | 40 | 40 | 5 | 6 | 0 / 4 |
| Harborview Senior Assisted LivingLicence 374603715 | 30 | 30 | 8 | 11 | 1 / 2 |
Not ranked and not recommended — ordered by licensed beds, which is a fact rather than an opinion. A dash means the state's record does not state it, which is not a refusal and not a zero; it is the question to put to the home. "Non-amb." is the number of residents the home may accept who cannot walk out unaided; "Hospice" is the waiver's resident limit where the state prints one. A and B are Type A and Type B citations — read them against the visit count beside them, never on their own. All 195 homes, including the 158 of six beds or fewer, and the 21 in La Mesa.
Tell us the dates and what she needs, and we will come back with which homes can actually take a short stay, what the daily rate is this month, and what the home will need from her doctor.
What to ask, in this order
Four questions that settle a short stay
In this order, because each one can end the conversation and the first three cost nothing.
Are you approved for what she needs?
Non-ambulatory if she uses a walker or a wheelchair, a hospice waiver if she is on hospice, and a secured perimeter or delayed egress if she tries to leave. Ask for the approval in writing. A home that treats this as a formality on a short stay will treat it as one on a long one.
What is the daily rate, and the minimum stay?
Respite is usually priced per day rather than per month and usually works out higher per day, because the home is turning the room over. Ask what is included and what is extra — incontinence supplies, medication management, a two-person transfer — and get it in writing.
What do you need from her doctor, and by when?
The physician's assessment on LIC 602A is the step that sets the timeline. Ask which form, how recent it has to be, and whether they will accept it by email. Then book the appointment before you book anything else.
If it goes well, what happens?
Worth asking even if you have no intention of making it permanent. A lot of permanent placements begin as a two-week stay, and knowing in advance whether the rate, the room and the availability would carry over saves a second search in a month.
Free, and selling you nothing
The county line, which is not ours
Respite for a family caregiver and a short stay in a care home are two different conversations, and only one of them involves us.
Aging & Independence Services, County of San Diego — 800-339-4661. The county's own call centre, 8am to 5pm Monday to Friday. Free, independent of anybody selling care, and it knows about caregiver support programmes that have nothing to do with placement. Ask specifically about respite assistance for family caregivers.
If somebody is in danger right now the number is 911. The county says reports of suspected elder or dependent adult abuse can be made on the same 800-339-4661 line, 24 hours a day.
Read off the county's own page on 26 October 2026. Aging & Independence Services.
The part nobody says out loud
Most permanent placements start as a short stay
Not as a trick, and not because anybody talked anyone into it.
Two weeks tells a family more than twenty tours. How the food actually is. Whether anybody comes when she presses the call button at two in the morning. Whether she is sitting with people or sitting alone in a nice room.
It also gives her a say, which matters more than most families expect. A parent who has chosen to stay somewhere, even for two weeks, is in a completely different conversation from a parent who has been moved.
And sometimes two weeks is just two weeks, and she goes home, and that was the right answer. If you are not sure which it is, that is a normal call to make.
Common questions
Respite, answered
- Can a care home in San Diego take someone for just a week or two?
- Yes. Licensed residential care homes take short stays as well as permanent residents, and in a six-bed home it is often simply whichever room is free. What families do not expect is that a short stay is still an admission, so the paperwork is the same as for somebody moving in for good.
- How much notice does respite care actually need?
- Realistically about a week, and the constraint is almost never the room. Before anybody moves in, the home has to carry out a pre-admission appraisal under 22 CCR 87457, and it needs a medical assessment completed by a physician within the last year on form LIC 602A under 87458. Getting the appointment and the signature is what takes the time, and nobody can hurry it. If you already know the date of the wedding, the operation or the trip, start two weeks out and it is straightforward.
- Will the home still need approval for her condition on a short stay?
- Yes, and it is worth checking before you fall in love with a place. If she uses a walker or a wheelchair, the home still needs its non-ambulatory approval. If she is on hospice, it still needs its hospice waiver. Two weeks does not change any of that, and a home that waves the question away for a short stay is a home to be wary of for a long one.
- What does respite cost, and is it charged differently?
- It is normally charged as a daily rate rather than a monthly one, and the daily rate usually works out higher per day than a permanent placement, because the home is turning the room over. Ask for the daily rate, the minimum stay, and whether a deposit is refundable if your plans change — and get all three in writing before you commit.
- Is a respite stay a reasonable way to try a home before committing?
- It is the best way there is, and a lot of permanent placements start exactly like this. You learn more from two weeks than from twenty tours: how the food actually is, whether anybody comes when she presses the call button at night, whether she is sitting with people or sitting alone. It also gives her a say in the decision, which matters more than most families expect.
- Is there help paying for respite in San Diego County?
- There may be, and it does not come from us. The county's Aging & Independence Services call centre on 800-339-4661 is the place to start: it is the county's own information line, it is free, and it knows about caregiver support programmes that have nothing to do with placement. Ask them specifically about respite assistance for family caregivers rather than about care homes, because those are two different conversations.
Licensing figures are recomputed from the California Department of Social Services, Community Care Licensing Division record read 21 October 2026, not typed in by hand. Licensing changes continually: check any home's current status on the state's own Care Facility Search before relying on it. General information for families, not legal or medical advice.
Last reviewed . Figures are re-checked against their sources whenever this page is revised.
Tell us the dates and we will find the room
Which homes can take a short stay, what they are charging this month, and what they will need from her doctor. It costs your family nothing, and if two weeks is not really what you need we will say so.
Who are we helping?
Start with your family member. You can discuss the details with us by phone.
Prefer to talk now? (619) 340-1539, open every day until 6pm.