Independent Living and Assisted Living and Memory Care
Merrill Gardens at Columbia
2205 Gregg St, Columbia, SC 29201 · Map
Licensed for 52 residents · MERRILL GARDENS AT COLUMBIA LLC
Merrill Gardens at Columbia is a state-licensed independent living, assisted living, memory care community in Columbia, South Carolina. It is licensed for 52 residents. Lilisity publishes no score or ranking for this community; the details below come from the state licensing record.
Prices
Starting prices the community publishes, with the date we checked each one and a link to where it is published. Care charges are usually added after an assessment.
| Care | Starting at | Checked |
|---|---|---|
| Assisted Living | $3,750 /mo | Oct 12, 2026 |
Area costs
Care and services
From the community’s website
What Merrill Gardens at Columbia says about itself, quoted from its own site. We have not checked these claims against licensing records. Ask about each one on a tour.
- Provides transportation.
apartment layouts and have the benefits of on-site maintenance, scheduled transportation, 24-hour staffing, and weekly housekeeping.
(page, checked Oct 12, 2026) - Pets allowed.
Pets Welcome
(page, checked Oct 12, 2026) - Apartment types named: studio, two-bedroom.
studio, one, and two bedroom
(page, checked Oct 12, 2026)
Lilisity’s independent report
What the public record shows
Gathered by Lilisity from state and federal sources. Communities can’t edit this part of the page.
State inspections
Most recent enforcement order: Oct 15, 2026. See the record
License
Active, 52 residents
Community Residential Care Facility (Alzheimer's unit) CRC-1979, current license dated Mar 23, 2026. Licensee MERRILL GARDENS AT COLUMBIA LLC.
Nearest emergency room
0.8 miles
Prisma Health Baptist, rated 4 of 5 stars by CMS.
Side by side with nearby communities
The 4 nearest communities that offer assisted living, by straight-line distance. Prices are starting prices each community publishes; we never show estimates.
| Community | Distance | Licensed capacity | Published starting price | License | Inspection citations |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Merrill Gardens at Columbia this community | 52 | $3,750/mo | Active | 0 enforcement orders | |
| Walters Residential Care | 1.7 mi | 35 | Not published | Active | 0 enforcement orders |
| Kensington II Group Home | 1.9 mi | 8 | Not published | Active | 0 enforcement orders |
| Kensington I | 1.9 mi | 8 | Not published | Active | 0 enforcement orders |
| Builders Care Home | 2.2 mi | 6 | Not published | Active | 0 enforcement orders |
State inspection record0 enforcement orders
- Enforcement orders since October 15, 2021
- 0
- Monetary penalties assessed
- None
DPH’s monthly enforcement reports list no order against this community, under its current name, in the last five years.
DPH does not post routine inspection reports for assisted living (community residential care) online. This page lists only the enforcement orders DPH publishes each month: administrative orders, consent orders, suspensions and revocations, with the violations DPH cited. Most inspections do not lead to an order, so a community with no order here can still have had citations. You can ask DPH for a community's inspection reports, and you can ask the community to show you its most recent one. This community is licensed for 52 residents. Orders are matched to communities by name, because DPH’s reports do not give license numbers. Source: South Carolina Department of Public Health, Healthcare Quality, Healthcare Quality Enforcement Actions, reports checked October 15, 2026, showing the last five years. Always visit in person and ask the community about anything listed here.
License and ownershipActive license, licensee MERRILL GARDENS AT COLUMBIA LLC
- License type
- Community Residential Care Facility (Alzheimer's unit)
- License number
- CRC-1979
- License status
- Active
- Current license dated
- 2026-03-23
- Licensed capacity
- 52
- Licensee
- MERRILL GARDENS AT COLUMBIA LLC
- County
- Richland County
- General Manager
- Dougal Kear
Source: South Carolina state licensing records (agency listing), retrieved 2026-09-09. Licensing status is a matter of public record; it is not a quality rating.
General Manager name from the operator's website, as of Oct 12, 2026.
Paying with Medicaid and other programsHow Medicaid pays for care in South Carolina, and other programs
How Medicaid pays for care in South Carolina
- Community Choices (CC) Waiver (SC.0405): Residential Personal Care II. Yes, in a limited way. South Carolina's Community Choices waiver offers a service called Residential Personal Care II for waiver members who live in a CRCF and are assessed as needing an intermediate nursing facility level of care. (state page)
- Waitlist. The Community Choices waiver has a wait list; SCDHHS contacts people when enrollment opens. (source)
Ask the community whether it accepts Medicaid.
Location and nearby careNearest hospital 0.8 mi, nursing home 0.4 mi, pharmacy 0.7 mi
- Nearest hospital with an emergency room
- Prisma Health Baptist, Columbia. 0.8 miles away, straight line. CMS overall hospital rating: 4 of 5 stars.
- Nearest Medicare nursing home
- C M Tucker Jr Nursing Care Center Fewell and Stone, Columbia. 0.4 miles away, straight line.
- Nearest home health agency office
- Prisma Health Homecare, Columbia. 0.9 miles away, straight line. Agencies travel to clients, so ask which ones serve this address.
- Nearest pharmacy
- CVS Pharmacy. 0.7 miles away, straight line. From OpenStreetMap, which does not list every pharmacy, so one may be closer.
- Area
- USDA classes ZIP code 29201 as metropolitan (metropolitan core).
- Dialysis within 15 miles
- Fresenius Medical Care South Columbia, Columbia, 0.6 miles away, straight line (CMS rating 2 of 5 stars)
Fresenius Medical Care Columbia, Columbia, 0.6 miles away, straight line (has a shift starting after 5 pm; CMS rating 3 of 5 stars)
Fresenius Medical Care Midtown, Columbia, 0.9 miles away, straight line (has a shift starting after 5 pm; CMS rating 3 of 5 stars) - Hospice
- 14 Medicare hospices tell CMS they serve ZIP code 29201.
Medical Services Of America Hospice-Columbia, office in Columbia, 2.6 miles away, straight line (CMS family survey rating 2 of 5 stars)
Pruitthealth Hospice- Columbia, office in Columbia, 2.9 miles away, straight line (CMS family survey rating 4 of 5 stars)
Prisma Health Hospice Midlands, office in Columbia, 3.7 miles away, straight line (CMS family survey rating 4 of 5 stars) - Nearest geriatric medicine practice
- Prisma Health Medical Group-Midlands, Columbia. 0.7 miles away, straight line. 4 geriatric medicine doctors listed there.
Distances are straight lines from the community, not driving distance. Hospitals, home health, dialysis, hospice and doctors come from CMS provider data (CMS, hospital list updated Jul 22, 2026). Star ratings are CMS’s own.
Emergency and natural hazard riskFEMA overall risk very low; outside FEMA's high-risk flood areas
Public hazard maps for this location. Ask the community about its emergency plan, its generator and where residents would go in an evacuation.
- Flood zone
- Outside the high and moderate risk flood areas on FEMA's flood map (Zone X, minimal flood hazard, or not studied). (FEMA flood map)
- FEMA National Risk Index
- Overall: very low. By hazard: hurricane relatively low, inland flooding relatively low, wildfire very low, tornado relatively low, heat wave relatively low, earthquake relatively low. These are FEMA’s ratings for the census tract, compared with tracts nationwide. (FEMA, December 2025)
A flood zone describes the map at this point, not the building's elevation. In an emergency, follow the local emergency management agency.
Questions to ask on a tour10 questions picked for this community from its record
Picked for this community from its record. Ask them in person and write down the answers.
- The current license dates from 2026. Has the owner or operator changed recently?
- Your published starting price is a base rate. What would the total monthly cost be for my parent's needs?
- How much have prices gone up in each of the last three years?
- How many caregivers work in memory care during the day, the evening and overnight, and for how many residents?
- What dementia training does each caregiver get before working alone, and every year after?
- How do staff respond when a resident is agitated, frightened or tries to leave?
- How many caregivers are on duty during the day and at night?
- What happens if care needs increase? When would someone need to move?
- What fees are charged at move-in?
- How do you tell families about falls, illness or changes?
What we checked13 public sources we searched, with dates
Every public source we searched for this community. “Nothing on record” means we found no record that matched it. A record can be missed when a name or address differs.
| Source | Data as of | What we found |
|---|---|---|
| South Carolina Department of Public Health, Healthcare Quality inspection records | Oct 15, 2026 | See above |
| U.S. Department of Labor wage and hour cases | Oct 15, 2026 | Nothing on record |
| OSHA workplace safety inspections since 2016 | Oct 15, 2026 | Nothing on record |
| Hurricane evacuation zone maps | Not in a mapped zone | |
| FEMA flood map | See above | |
| USDA wildfire risk | Apr 15, 2026 | Not shown: FEMA rates wildfire risk here very low |
| FEMA National Risk Index | See above | |
| CMS hospitals, home health, dialysis, hospice and doctors; OpenStreetMap pharmacies | See above | |
| HUD Multifamily Properties - Assisted | Jul 6, 2026 | Nothing on record |
| State Veterans Homes (NASVH directory) | Sep 20, 2026 | Nothing on record |
| CMS Hospice - General Information | Aug 19, 2026 | Nothing on record |
| CMS Home Health Care Agencies | May 27, 2026 | Nothing on record |
| The community’s own website | See above |
Common questionsAnswers to 4 questions families ask
What type of care does Merrill Gardens at Columbia provide?
Merrill Gardens at Columbia is licensed by the state of South Carolina for independent living, assisted living, memory care in Columbia, South Carolina. Its licensed capacity is 52 residents.
Does Lilisity rate Merrill Gardens at Columbia?
No. We publish state licensing details for Merrill Gardens at Columbia but no score, rating, or ranking. Only communities on the Top Communities list or with a Senior Living Alliance Excellence Award, both based on phone-verified resident and family interviews, are ranked.
How much does Merrill Gardens at Columbia cost?
Assisted Living in South Carolina typically starts at $3,600 to $4,750 a month. Based on 57 communities that publish prices. These are area figures, not this community's price. The starting prices it publishes are in the Prices section on this page.
How do I contact Merrill Gardens at Columbia?
Use Merrill Gardens at Columbia's website, merrillgardens.com/senior-living/sc/columbia/merrill-gardens-at-columbia, or visit at 2205 Gregg St, Columbia, SC 29201.
How Lilisity works. The only scores or rankings Lilisity publishes are the Top Communities list and the Excellence Awards, both built from phone-verified resident and family interviews. Communities can pay Lilisity a flat monthly fee to manage their own listing: photos, prices, contact details, and receiving the inquiries families choose to send them. The fee is the same no matter how many families contact them or move in. Senior Living Alliance, which runs Lilisity, offers the same listing to its member communities as part of their membership; members pay SLA for its resident and family interview program. No community pays Lilisity per inquiry, per referral or per move-in. Payment never changes a testimonial, a rating, or the order of search results. The "Nearby Senior Living Alliance communities" box shows member communities only. How we verify testimonials · How we are paid