State assisted-living licensing record · Iowa DIAL · record as pulled September 22, 2026· Not the federal nursing home survey
Bickford Cottage Iowa City
3500 Lower W Branch Rd, Iowa City, IA 52245 · Johnson County · 65 licensed beds
DIAL record ID 1740 · licence S0023 · certified through December 1, 2026 · first licensed October 1998
The licence
Licensed by DIAL · Dementia-specific assisted living program
Certification details, as listed by DIAL
- Certified as
- Dementia-specific assisted living program
- Certificate
- S0023
- Certified since
- October 29, 1998
- Current certificate
- From December 1, 2024, expires December 1, 2026
- Occupancy
- 65 units
- Accredited
- No
Position within Iowa
14 citations — more than 86% of the 437 licensed assisted living facilities in Iowa. Compared only within Iowa: a citation from DIAL means what it means in Iowa, and there is no national assisted living record to compare to. Counted over 5 years, which holds two or three routine inspections. How this is calculated
Not in this record
Fire and life safety inspection, severity, the survey report, and enforcement. The fire safety inspection of an Iowa assisted living program is the State Fire Marshal's and is not published; what DIAL itself cites about the building — its structural requirements, the dwelling-unit rules for dementia-specific programs and the fire and safety standards of the Code — is here. DIAL assigns no severity to a citation, and the survey report itself is published only as a scanned image, which is not read. Fines, conditional certifications and other enforcement actions are recorded separately and not republished. Elder group homes and adult day services are other certification types and are not included.
Get an email about Bickford Cottage Iowa City
One email when it happens, from the DIAL record as it is pulled each month. No account; stop it any time with one click.
Building-related citations
The citation about the building itself — physical plant and emergency management. Usually the maintenance side’s to fix.
- 481-69.32-2 An operating alarm system shall be connected to each exit door in a dementia-specific programFebruary 28, 2024
How that compares
Compared with the median licensed assisted living facility in Iowa. Within-state only.
| Measure | Citations |
|---|---|
| This facility | 14 |
| Median facility in Iowa | 2 |
Visit history
| Visit | Type | Citations |
|---|---|---|
| November 8, 2022 | recertification survey; complaint investigation | 1 |
| February 28, 2024 | complaint investigation; incident investigation | 4 |
| August 14, 2024 | other visit | 1 |
| March 26, 2025 | other visit, revisit | 0 |
| March 26, 2025 | recertification survey; complaint investigation | 2 |
| July 21, 2025 | incident investigation | 3 |
| October 22, 2025 | complaint investigation; incident investigation | 3 |
| August 11, 2026 | complaint investigation | 0 |
What the citations cover
- Resident care 5
- Records and administration 5
- Staffing and training 3
- Life safety 1
| Category | Citations |
|---|---|
| Resident care | 5 |
| Records and administration | 5 |
| Staffing and training | 3 |
| Life safety | 1 |
Every visit on file since September 2021
As published by DIAL, newest first, including visits that cited nothing. The wording is DIAL’s own.
August 11, 2026 — complaint investigation, nothing cited
October 22, 2025 — complaint investigation; incident investigation, 3 citations
| Tag | What DIAL checks |
|---|---|
| 481-67.2-3 | The program shall follow the policies and procedures established by the program |
| 481-69.23-1 | A program shall not knowingly admit or retain a tenant who |
| 481-69.27-1 | If a tenant receives personal or health-related care, the program shall provide for a registered nurse |
July 21, 2025 — incident investigation, 3 citations
| Tag | What DIAL checks |
|---|---|
| 481-67.2-1 | Program policies and procedures |
| 481-67.2-1 | Program policies and procedures |
| 481-67.2-3 | The program shall follow the policies and procedures established by the program |
March 26, 2025 — recertification survey; complaint investigation, 2 citations
| Tag | What DIAL checks |
|---|---|
| 481-69.25-1 | Tenant Documents |
| 481-69.27-1 | If a tenant receives personal or health-related care, the program shall provide for a registered nurse |
March 26, 2025 — other visit, revisit, nothing cited
August 14, 2024 — other visit, 1 citation
| Tag | What DIAL checks |
|---|---|
| 481-67.2-3 | The program shall follow the policies and procedures established by the program |
February 28, 2024 — complaint investigation; incident investigation, 4 citations
| Tag | What DIAL checks |
|---|---|
| 481-67.9-1 | Number of staff |
| 481-69.23-1 | A program shall not knowingly admit or retain a tenant who |
| 481-69.29-4 | A dementia-specific assisted living program shall have one or more staff persons who monitor tenants as… |
| 481-69.32-2 | An operating alarm system shall be connected to each exit door in a dementia-specific program |
November 8, 2022 — recertification survey; complaint investigation, 1 citation
| Tag | What DIAL checks |
|---|---|
| 481-69.30-1 | All personnel employed by or contracting with a dementia-specific program shall receive a minimum of eight… |
DIAL also holds 82 older citations for this facility from before September 2021, outside the 5-year window these pages use. They are on the state’s own record.
Reflects the DIAL record as pulled September 22, 2026. A recent visit may not appear yet. This is the Iowa state licensing record; it is not the federal nursing home survey and the two are never combined.