Briarcliffe Gardens

Is Briarcliffe Gardens a licensed assisted living residence in Rhode Island?

Yes. Briarcliffe Gardens at 53 Old Pocasset Road, Johnston, RI 02919 holds an active Rhode Island Assisted Living Residence license, number ALR01458, for 68 beds, on the Rhode Island Department of Health (RIDOH) licensee list updated October 23, 2026, together with a Special Care Unit license for Alzheimer's and dementia care and a Limited Health Services license.

You can confirm the license yourself in RIDOH's assisted living finder or the license verification site by searching the name or license number.

What did RIDOH's recent inspections of Briarcliffe Gardens find?

RIDOH has posted reports from 8 survey visits at Briarcliffe Gardens since April 2023: 1 found deficiencies and 7 found none. The most recent, on October 10, 2025, was a complaint/incident investigation — no deficiencies cited.

The latest posted routine (biennial) licensure survey was on April 24, 2025 — no deficiencies cited. Most other visits are unannounced complaint or incident investigations, which RIDOH opens whenever a report or complaint comes in; a high count can reflect a large or busy residence as much as a problem.

Areas cited across those reports include dietary services, medication administration and storage and residential care services. A cited deficiency requires a written Plan of Correction that RIDOH reviews; it is not a fine or a license action.

For context, the median Providence County residence with posted reports has 3.5 survey visits with deficiencies over the same period; Briarcliffe Gardens has been cited less often than that.

SOD = Statement of Deficiencies; POC = Plan of Correction. Results are read from RIDOH's scanned reports; the linked PDF is the authority. All posted reports for Briarcliffe Gardens →

Does Briarcliffe Gardens offer memory care in Johnston?

Yes. Briarcliffe Gardens holds a RIDOH Special Care Unit license for Alzheimer's and dementia care with 68 licensed beds — the whole residence is licensed as a Special Care Unit. Rhode Island requires a residence offering dementia care to hold that separate license, to be licensed at the F1–M1 level, to keep a registered nurse available for consultation at all times, and to provide a secure environment.

Across Rhode Island, 34 residences hold a Special Care Unit license, with a median of 32 dementia beds; Briarcliffe Gardens's unit is larger than most.

Briarcliffe Gardens also holds a Limited Health Services license, which lets its staff provide physician-ordered care such as stage I–II pressure-ulcer care, simple wound care, ostomy care and urinary-catheter care without bringing in an outside agency.

Where is Briarcliffe Gardens located?

Briarcliffe Gardens is at 53 Old Pocasset Road, Johnston, RI 02919, in Johnston, Providence County. Hospitals families there commonly use include Our Lady of Fatima Hospital, Roger Williams Medical Center and Rhode Island Hospital.

Johnston is a largely residential town west of Providence; the Old Pocasset Road area holds several senior communities close to Route 6 and I-295.

There are 3 other licensed assisted living residences in Johnston: Anchor Bay at Pocasset, The Bridge at Cherry Hill, The Preserve at Briarcliffe.

Veterans and surviving spouses are served by the Providence VA Medical Center and may qualify for VA Aid & Attendance toward assisted living costs; the state also runs the Rhode Island Veterans Home in Bristol.

How does Briarcliffe Gardens compare with other assisted living in Providence County?

With 68 licensed beds, Briarcliffe Gardens is about typical in size among the 35 licensed assisted living residences in Providence County (number 20 by bed count); the county median is 72 beds.

17 of those 35 residences hold a Special Care Unit license and 8 hold a Limited Health Services license, for 2,703 licensed assisted living beds in the county.

Closest in size among Providence County residences, from the same RIDOH records:

How much does Briarcliffe Gardens cost per month?

Rhode Island does not publish prices for individual residences, so ask Briarcliffe Gardens for its written rate schedule. This site's 2026 research puts typical memory care in the Providence metro at $7,000–$9,500/mo.

Expect a base monthly rate for the room or apartment plus a separate care-level charge; ask how the residence assesses care needs and how much notice it gives before raising either.

Rhode Island Medicaid's long-term services and supports program can pay for assisted living services at participating residences for people who qualify, while room and board stays the resident's responsibility. Ask whether the residence participates and how many Medicaid beds it has; see our Medicaid assisted living guide.

What should you ask when touring Briarcliffe Gardens?

Start with the areas RIDOH has already cited at Briarcliffe Gardens — dietary services, medication administration and storage and residential care services — and ask what changed after each Plan of Correction; then cover overnight staffing, the full rate schedule and what would force a move.

• Who plans therapeutic diets, and how are menu changes and special diets communicated to the kitchen?
• Who administers medications on each shift, and how are errors and missed doses tracked?
• What personal-care help is included in the base rate, and how is a change in care level decided?
• How many staff are awake on the overnight shift, and for how many residents?
• Is the residence licensed F1 or F2, and M1 or M2 — and what does that mean for my parent?
• What happens if a resident runs out of private funds — do you participate in Rhode Island Medicaid?
• Can we visit at mealtime and in the evening without an appointment?
• How do you handle a hospital discharge back to the residence?

Tour at different times of day, sit in on an activity, and take the residency agreement home to read before you commit.

How does moving into Briarcliffe Gardens work?

Moving into Briarcliffe Gardens starts with an assessment of your parent's needs before admission; Rhode Island rules then require the administrator to complete a written service plan within seven days of move-in.

• Residency agreement and disclosures. Get the agreement, the rate schedule and the discharge terms in writing and compare them before paying a deposit.
• Medication plan. Ask whether your parent will self-administer with help (an M2-level service) or need staff to store and administer medications (M1).
• Nurse review. A nurse reviews each resident's condition on a regular schedule; ask how often and who the nurse is.
• Special Care Unit admission. Ask what criteria move a resident into Briarcliffe Gardens's 68-bed Special Care Unit — here the whole residence is the unit.
• Payment. Most residents pay privately; long-term care insurance, VA Aid & Attendance and Rhode Island Medicaid (at participating residences) can offset costs.

Most moves take two to four weeks once a room is available; a hospital discharge can compress that to days, which is when a second set of eyes on the agreement helps most.

Frequently asked questions