For Gaithersburg families weighing alzheimer's care, here's the 2026 picture - local costs, licensing, and the questions that matter most before you book a tour.
The local picture in Gaithersburg
Gaithersburg, the county's second-largest city, offers a growing set of suburban assisted living and memory care options around Kentlands and Olde Towne.
Gaithersburg sits in Montgomery County, MD, part of Maryland. Nearby hospitals include Adventist HealthCare Shady Grove Medical Center, Holy Cross Germantown Hospital, which matters for discharge planning and staying close to a parent's physicians. Families here commonly focus on areas such as Kentlands, Olde Towne Gaithersburg, Washingtonian. Gaithersburg typically runs below Bethesda and Rockville for a comparable level of care.
Alzheimer's Care: what you're really paying for
Alzheimer's care is dementia-specific memory care - secured units, fixed routines, and staff trained for the behaviors that come with Alzheimer's and related dementias.
In Maryland, this level of care is regulated under an Assisted Living Program license under COMAR 10.07.14, rated Level 1, 2, or 3 according to how much hands-on care the program is approved to provide, overseen by the Maryland Office of Health Care Quality (OHCQ). A typical monthly range is $7,500 to $11,000 a month.
Walk past the lobby and check these instead:
- how the community handles sundowning and exit-seeking behavior
- whether the care plan gets revisited as the disease progresses
- the ratio of trained caregivers to residents on the unit overnight
What it costs, and how families pay, around Gaithersburg
Around Gaithersburg, alzheimer's care typically runs $7,500 to $11,000 a month. Gaithersburg typically runs below Bethesda and Rockville for a comparable level of care. Most families layer sources over time: private savings and Social Security first, then long-term-care insurance if it's in place, VA Aid & Attendance for eligible veterans and surviving spouses, and Maryland Medical Assistance - which can fund care services (not room and board) through the Community Options (CO) Waiver and Community First Choice (CFC), with the Senior Assisted Living Group Home Subsidy available to some lower-income assisted living residents for those who meet the income and asset tests.
Verify any community's license and inspection record through the Maryland OHCQ facility directory and published survey results before you commit - the one authoritative source covering every provider in Montgomery County, MD.
Your next move
You don't have to untangle this alone. Send a free DC Senior Advisor advisor a note and we'll match you to one to three vetted options in the right jurisdiction.