About

Built in 2007, with an expansion in 2017, Northern Mahaska Specialty Care is located on the edge of Oskaloosa, where an expanse of prairie offers a serene view from every window. Residents and guests enjoy common areas, and a private dining room for family gatherings. The outdoor patio is host to afternoon picnics and an ideal spot for reading. A courtyard in the back is set up for raised bed gardening that the residents tend. Two spa rooms feature soothing whirlpool tubs to ease aching joints, and the beauty salon is just down the hall.

A team of therapists using state-of-the-art equipment works with each resident, one-on-one, to achieve goals to improve the quality of life and minimize pain. These physical therapists and occupational therapists are also available to treat other members of the community on an outpatient basis.

But Northern Mahaska Specialty Care is a busy place too. An open, spacious activity room is occupied with dozens of hobbies and chores. Residents help with laundry and once a month, team up as a small group to prepare a meal and enjoying a family-style dinner. Painters can develop their artistic side and recently, a county fair winning doll house was created there. The puzzle table is usually a work in constant progress.

Girl Scout troops, 4-H, guest speakers and musicians stop in frequently to entertain. The annual fall bazaar has residents preparing crafts for sale and the community joins in for a bake sale. Bus tours around the county are sightseeing trips for wildlife in the summer months and holiday lights and shopping trips in the winter. There is also an occasional trip to Des Moines to visit the zoo or an ICubs games, too.

“We put every effort toward pulling out each person’s strengths to continue to enjoy life and be active in mind and body,” says Administrator Tabitha Tjaden. “We like to think out of the box. We seek to accommodate as much as possible.”

We would love it if you stopped by to visit! 

Northern Mahaska Specialty Care is a 79-bed skilled nursing facility offering rehabilitation services, skilled nursing care, long term care and hospice care. We are a part of Care Initiatives, Iowa’s largest not-for-profit skilled nursing and long term care provider.  Northern Mahaska Specialty Care accepts Medicare and Medicaid.