The Sanctuary at West St. Paul

The Sanctuary at West St. Paul, in West St. Paul, is one of the larger licensed assisted living communities in Dakota County: 174 licensed resident spaces under MDH license 424781. Below is what the Minnesota Department of Health publishes about this license, and how to use that record when you visit.

Is The Sanctuary at West St. Paul licensed by the Minnesota Department of Health?

Yes. The Sanctuary at West St. Paul holds an MDH Assisted Living Facility with Dementia Care license, number 424781, for 174 residents; the current license period runs from April 1, 2026 to March 31, 2027.

The dementia care license is the category Minnesota requires for any building with a secured memory care unit, so this community may operate one.

What do MDH survey and complaint records show for The Sanctuary at West St. Paul?

MDH has posted 2 evaluation surveys for The Sanctuary at West St. Paul, most recently resolved on November 5, 2025, along with 4 complaint investigations by the Office of Health Facility Complaints, 2 of them substantiated.

Of the 4 investigations: 2 substantiated, 2 unsubstantiated, 0 inconclusive. The metro median for assisted living buildings licensed for 60 or more residents is 1 substantiated finding. Its posted record has more substantiated complaint findings than the metro median for buildings its size, so read each MDH report and ask the director what changed afterward. A complaint investigation starts when someone reports a concern, so the count reflects reporting as well as care.

Evaluation surveys

Office of Health Facility Complaints investigations

What does The Sanctuary at West St. Paul report about staffing and payment in its state disclosure?

In its UDALSA disclosure on file with MDH, dated 06/24/2024, The Sanctuary at West St. Paul reported typically scheduling these numbers of unlicensed direct-care staff: 9 on the day shift, 9 on the evening shift, 4 on the night shift.

It marks waivered services (Elderly Waiver, CADI or BI) as an accepted payment for services. Shift counts are building-wide and self-reported; divide by the 174 licensed spaces only as a rough guide, and ask how many staff work inside any secured unit. Read the full UDALSA (PDF) for the service and amenity checklist.

Where is The Sanctuary at West St. Paul, and what else is licensed nearby?

The Sanctuary at West St. Paul is at 1746 Oakdale Avenue, West St. Paul, Minnesota 55118, in Dakota County, where families are served by Trellis, the metro's Area Agency on Aging, through the Senior LinkAge Line at 1-800-333-2433.

Dakota County, in the south metro, had an estimated population of roughly 457,700 in 2025, and about 76,800 residents, or 16.9% of the county, were 65 or older as of 2024. The county's senior housing supply is anchored around Burnsville, Eagan, and Apple Valley, where M Health Fairview Ridges Hospital and the METRO Red Line bus rapid transit corridor have supported a growing cluster of assisted living and memory care communities over the past two decades. Dakota County is served by M Health Fairview Ridges Hospital in Burnsville, with the St. Paul hospitals a short drive north; ask how the community handles rides to specialist appointments. See our Dakota County guide.

Other licensed assisted living near West St. Paul

• Walker Methodist Westwood Ridge I · West St. Paul, 140 licensed spaces
• Lilydale Senior Living · Lilydale, 135 licensed spaces, dementia care
• The Glen West St. Paul · West St. Paul, 100 licensed spaces, dementia care
• Walker Methodist Westwood II · West St. Paul, 35 licensed spaces, dementia care
• Suite Living Senior Care of West St. Paul · West St. Paul, 32 licensed spaces, dementia care
• West Saint Paul Opco · West St. Paul, 20 licensed spaces

What does assisted living cost at a community like The Sanctuary at West St. Paul?

No primary source publishes a Twin Cities-only assisted living median, and The Sanctuary at West St. Paul's rates depend on apartment type and service package; third-party summaries of the CareScout survey put Minnesota's statewide median near $6,573 a month, a figure we have not verified against CareScout's own tables.

Ask The Sanctuary at West St. Paul for a written, itemized monthly quote for your parent's assessed service level, including what is billed separately. Minnesota's Elderly Waiver can pay for customized living services, never room and board, for Medical Assistance-eligible residents of participating facilities; very-low-income residents may also qualify for Housing Support toward room and board. How the Elderly Waiver works in assisted living.

Does The Sanctuary at West St. Paul provide memory care?

The Sanctuary at West St. Paul holds Minnesota's dementia care license, so before signing a contract you are entitled to its written dementia care disclosure under Minn. Stat. 325F.72.

That disclosure covers admission and retention criteria for the secured unit, the assessment and service-plan process, staff credentials and training, the physical environment and security features, programming and fees. Compare it side by side with another community's, and ask how many staff completed the dementia training required under Minn. Stat. 144G.83 this year.

How should a family evaluate The Sanctuary at West St. Paul?

With 174 licensed spaces, The Sanctuary at West St. Paul is large enough that staffing can vary floor to floor and shift to shift. Ask for the caregiver-to-resident ratio on the wing your parent would live in, both day and overnight, and how many aides are awake after 11 p.m.

Check the Minnesota Assisted Living Report Card, which DHS and MDH publish with resident and family survey results for many facilities, alongside the complaint record above. Visit at least twice, once unannounced near a mealtime, and ask to speak with a current resident's family.

What should you ask on a tour of The Sanctuary at West St. Paul?

Ask about overnight staffing, move-out triggers and the latest MDH findings first; those three answers separate communities faster than any brochure.

• How do you coordinate rides to Allina, M Health Fairview, HealthPartners or North Memorial appointments?
• How many caregivers left in the past 12 months?
• What does the base rate include, and how are service packages priced?
• Can I see your most recent MDH evaluation survey and any correction orders?
• Who is the family's contact after hours?
• How do you handle a fall at night, and when is the family called?

Who do you call with a concern about care at The Sanctuary at West St. Paul?

Call the MDH Office of Health Facility Complaints at 651-201-4200 (or 1-800-369-7994) for a licensing concern, or the Minnesota Office of Ombudsman for Long-Term Care at 1-800-657-3591 for free, confidential advocacy.

A complaint to MDH can lead to the kind of investigation listed above. The ombudsman does not inspect; it helps resolve problems such as discharge notices, service-plan disputes and residents' rights issues, and acts with the resident's consent. Suspected abuse, neglect or financial exploitation goes to the Minnesota Adult Abuse Reporting Center at 1-844-880-1574, 24 hours a day. For immediate danger, call 911. How complaints work in Minnesota.