A crossroads town with family spread out
DuBois is the shopping, hospital and job center for a wide stretch of north-central Pennsylvania. Families from Brockway, Reynoldsville, Treasure Lake and the townships around Sandy Lick Creek come here for nearly everything, and many grown children now live a few exits east or west on Interstate 80, or farther away in Pittsburgh and State College.
That makes the location question practical. A community in DuBois can be easy for local relatives and still reachable for someone driving in on the interstate. One in Clearfield, the county seat, may suit a parent with roots on the eastern side of the county. Write down who visits most, where they live, and how long the drive takes in snow, then let that shape which buildings make the list.
Hospitals near DuBois
Penn Highlands DuBois is the main hospital in the city. Penn Highlands Brookville, a smaller hospital a short drive west along Interstate 80, is part of the same system. Both are listed in the federal hospital registry kept by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.
Because both hospitals belong to one system, ask whether a community has a working relationship with Penn Highlands doctors and how records move between them. Ask who goes with a resident to the emergency room, who calls the family, and how the community restarts care and medications after a resident comes home from a hospital stay.
Cold, snow and the DuBois plateau
DuBois sits high, and winters here can be harsh. The DuBois Regional Airport weather station's daily records show a low of 26 degrees below zero on January 19, 1994, and 16.3 inches of snow on March 13, 1993. Cold like that strains furnaces and pipes; snow like that closes Interstate 80 and keeps staff from getting to work.
Ask how the community has handled real storms, not just what its plan says on paper.
DuBois cold-weather tour checklist
- When Interstate 80 near DuBois closes in a snowstorm, how do aides and nurses still get to the building, and does anyone stay overnight?
- On a night when DuBois drops well below zero, what does the generator keep running, and how warm do rooms stay?
- Who plows and salts the lot and the walks after a Clearfield County snowfall, and how early?
- How would a resident get to Penn Highlands DuBois during a storm, and who rides along?
- Has the building ever had frozen pipes or a heating failure, and what changed afterward?
- Is the community on low ground near Sandy Lick Creek, and has its lot ever taken water during a heavy rain or spring thaw?
- What keeps residents active indoors in DuBois from December to March, when walks outside are icy?
Mature Resources, the county's aging agency
Clearfield County's area agency on aging now goes by a new name. Mature Resources Area Agency on Aging takes information calls at 814-765-2696 and runs a DuBois Center for Active Living among its centers around the county. Longtime residents may still know it by its older initials, CCAAA.
The agency is worth a call before any tour. The agency's care managers do comprehensive assessments and person-centered care planning for adults 60 and older, free of charge. An assessment can show whether your parent could stay home a while longer with help, and it gives you a neutral picture of their needs to share with any community you visit. Mature Resources lists 1-800-233-0249 as its line for reporting elder abuse. Keep that number with your notes, for your parent and for any neighbor who might need it.
Veterans in Clearfield County
The DuBois VA Clinic, part of VA Altoona health care, is at 5690 Shaffer Road in DuBois. That's a real advantage for a veteran who wants to stay in town. Ask each community whether it helps with rides to the clinic, and ask about the VA's Aid and Attendance benefit, which can help eligible veterans and surviving spouses pay for help with daily care.
Timing a move around a DuBois winter
Many families decide in the fall, after a summer when a parent struggled with the yard, the stairs or the drive to the store. If you can, try to settle a move before the heavy snow arrives, so your parent learns the hallways, meets neighbors and finds a seat in the dining room while it's still easy to come and go. A move in the middle of a January cold snap is harder on everyone, including the relatives hauling furniture up icy steps.
If the timing doesn't work, that's all right. Use the winter to visit, compare rate sheets and talk through the choice as a family, then plan for spring.
Personal care homes and assisted living in Pennsylvania
Around DuBois you'll see two labels. Pennsylvania calls many settings personal care homes, and a smaller number are assisted living residences, which operate under a separate set of state rules. Ask each place which it is and what care it may provide, because that determines whether your parent could stay if their needs grow.
Pennsylvania's state human services agency oversees both and publishes inspection findings. The state record search is linked in the directory disclaimer at the bottom of this page. Read more than one year of results.
What care costs in Pennsylvania
The table below shows Pennsylvania's statewide medians from the CareScout Cost of Care Survey 2025. Prices around DuBois depend on the community, the apartment and the care your parent needs, and the statewide figure includes big metro areas in the east and west. Ask each community for a written rate sheet, its care charges and its rate increases over the last three years.
Questions DuBois families ask
Should we look in DuBois or in Clearfield?
Look where the family is. DuBois has the bigger hospital and more shopping; Clearfield may be closer to old friends on the eastern side of the county. Try the drive from home to each in bad weather before you decide.
Who can explain aging services in Clearfield County?
Mature Resources Area Agency on Aging. Its information line can explain help at home, meals, the centers for active living and a free care assessment.
Is there a VA clinic close to DuBois?
Yes. The DuBois VA Clinic is on Shaffer Road in DuBois, so a veteran can often keep VA care without a long drive.
How do we look up a Pennsylvania home's record?
Use the state search linked in the directory disclaimer at the bottom of this page, and ask the community to explain any findings and what it fixed.
Next steps
Read our assisted living or memory care guide, call Mature Resources, and bring the DuBois cold-weather checklist to every visit. When you'd like to talk, ask for a callback below. One local advisor for DuBois will call you back, at no cost.