Des Moines Senior AdvisorPrairie Vista Village, at 2785 1st Avenue South in Altoona (Polk County), is a certified assisted living program (ALP) certified by the Iowa Department of Inspections, Appeals, and Licensing under certificate S0342, with a maximum occupancy of 68 units and a certificate current through June 16, 2028.
What does Iowa's certificate record show for Prairie Vista Village in Altoona?
DIAL's Entity Report lists Prairie Vista Village under certificate S0342 with 68 units and an expiration date of June 16, 2028, smaller than the metro midpoint of 88 for ALP certificates.
| Field | From DIAL's records |
|---|---|
| DIAL certificate number | S0342 |
| Program type | Assisted living program (ALP) |
| First certified | June 18, 2014 |
| Current two-year certificate | June 17, 2026 through June 16, 2028 |
| Maximum occupancy | 68 units |
| Voluntary national accreditation | No; DIAL monitors it directly |
| Administrator on the DIAL record | John Freeman |
| State fines with exit dates since January 2023 | 0 |
| Months since DIAL's last survey or monitoring | 20.6 (next due February 26, 2027) |
| Phone on the DIAL record | (515) 967-8700 |
The certificate shown runs to June 16, 2028. Iowa issues ALP certificates for two-year terms and expects the operator to apply for recertification, with its fee, at least 30 days before the old one lapses.
DIAL dates the first certification to June 18, 2014, about 12 years ago, which places it 35 of 77 by age among the metro's certificates.
Does Prairie Vista Village have a memory care certificate?
Prairie Vista Village holds a general assisted living certificate rather than a dementia-specific one, so it may serve tenants with mild cognitive impairment but must transfer anyone whose needs exceed its disclosed criteria or Iowa's retention limits.
A cognitive evaluation using a scored, objective tool is required before move-in, and when it shows moderate decline the program switches to the Global Deterioration Scale to track the change. The closest dementia-specific programs are StoryPoint Altoona (memory care) (1.3 mi), StoryPoint Pleasant Hill (2.9 mi), Memory Support at Copper Shores Village (3.4 mi).
What enforcement history does DIAL show for Prairie Vista Village?
None is listed: the statewide fines report for January 2023 to November 2026 does not name Prairie Vista Village.
A clean fines record means no penalty-level findings in that window. Ordinary regulatory insufficiencies are fixed through a written plan of correction that the fines report never shows.
How recently has DIAL visited Prairie Vista Village?
DIAL's Survey Due Report counted 20.6 months since the last on-site survey or monitoring of Prairie Vista Village when we ran it on November 6, 2026, which puts that visit around February 2025; the next one is due by February 26, 2027.
Iowa rules require DIAL to monitor every certified program at least once in each 24-month period (481 IAC 67.10), plus complaint and incident investigations in between. Ask the program for the final report from that visit.
What other assisted living is near Prairie Vista Village?
The nearest other certified program is StoryPoint Altoona (assisted living) in Altoona, about 1.3 miles away as the crow flies, with 128 units and a general certificate.
| Facility | Miles away | Type | Units or beds | State fines since 2023 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| StoryPoint Altoona (assisted living) 1600 8th Street SE, 50009 | 1.3 | ALP | 128 | 0 |
| StoryPoint Altoona (memory care) 1600 8th Street SE, 50009 | 1.3 | ALP/D | 40 | 1 |
| Assisted Living at Copper Shores Village 1500 Edgewater Drive, 50327 | 2.9 | ALP | 76 | 1 |
| StoryPoint Pleasant Hill 6151 Martha L Miller Drive, 50327 | 2.9 | ALP/D | 140 | 0 |
| Memory Support at Copper Shores Village 1500 Edgewater Drive, 50327 | 3.4 | ALP/D | 28 | 0 |
Where is Prairie Vista Village, and how close are the hospitals?
Prairie Vista Village is in Altoona, Polk County, and UnityPoint Health Des Moines Iowa Lutheran is the closest general hospital on DIAL's roster, about 7.1 miles away by straight line.
UnityPoint Health - Des Moines Iowa Methodist Medical Center is next, roughly 8.6 miles away. Distances are straight-line measurements between mapped points, not driving times.
If nursing care becomes necessary, the two nearest CMS-certified nursing facilities are Prairie Vista Village (0.8 mi; CMS rating 5 of 5) and Altoona Nursing and Rehabilitation Center (1.8 mi; CMS rating 1 of 5).
Also licensed at this street address: Prairie Vista Village (nursing facility, license 770080). On a shared campus a tenant can often change levels of care without leaving the community.
Which questions matter most at Prairie Vista Village?
Use the public record as your checklist: request the most recent monitoring or complaint report and the program's response to it.
- Ask which services cost extra as needs rise, and confirm the agreement promises 30 days' written notice of any change.
- Ask how the program handles a tenant who needs two-person transfers or more than 28 hours a week of nursing, the point where Iowa rules usually require a move.
- Ask whether the program works with Iowa Medicaid's Elderly Waiver and which managed care organizations it contracts with.
