Welcome!

Eckerd Living Center is a CMS rated 5-star facility. We are  an 80-bed skilled nursing facility located in the mountains on Western North Carolina. We are proud to be a Mission facility.

We realize transitioning to a skilled nursing facility is a matter of great care and concern to the families of loved ones, so we strive to create an environment in which you can have trust, faith and assurance that only the best in care will be given to your family member.

We are physically attached to the Highlands-Cashiers Hospital, so that, emergency and acute care are just a few steps away. Each resident is assigned a primary care physician who recommends a plan of medical treatment, supervises diagnostic, as well as, therapeutic procedures, and personally prescribes required medications.

We use an interdisciplinary team approach to ensure that our administrator, physicians, nurse managers, social workers, dieticians, along with therapists and special consultants work together to provide the highest level of care for each member of our Living Center family. We urge that the residents’ family members participate in the active plan of care to assure that they continue to be an integral part of the care for their loved ones.

Eckerd Living Center accepts Medicare, Medicaid, and private payment; making all rooms competitively priced. The entire facility is secure, to provide a safe environment for wandering residents. Meals are served fine-dining style with your choice of two entrees, two vegetables, and two starches and a variety of desserts selected from our dessert cart. All diets are ‘liberalized’ to encourage weight maintenance and satisfaction.

Our Staff
Ava Ammons, LNHA, RN-C

Ava Ammons, LNHA, RN-C

Administrator

Ava is the Administrator at ELC.

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A native of Macon County, Ava Emory has more than 19 years of experience in long term care management at Eckerd Living Center at Highlands Cashiers Hospital in Highlands, NC. Ava is a North Carolina Licensed Nursing Home Administrator for Eckerd Living Center. Ms. Emory is a graduate of Western Carolina University with a Bachelor’s Degree in Nursing. Ava is also a licensed Assisted Living Administrator. She is a Nationally Certified Director of Nursing and a Certified Geriatric Nurse. Ms. Emory is a Leadership Highlands Board member. Ava also serves on Healthy Carolinians of Macon County. Ms. Emory is a member of Highlands Mountain Top Rotary and the American Nurses Association.
Emily Bowers, MSN, RN

Emily Bowers, MSN, RN

Director of Nursing

Emily is the Director of Nursing at ELC.

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In 2006, Emily joined the ELC family as a Nurse Aide II. In past 10 years she has served ELC and it’s residents as Charge Nurse, Director of Social Services, Activities Director, and RN Nurse Manager.

In September of 2015, Emily was promoted to Director of Nursing. She is responsible for all clinical operations, and making sure staff are providing the best possible care for our residents.