A famous town with a small-town life
Visitors know Gettysburg for Gettysburg National Military Park, on Baltimore Pike at the edge of the borough. People who grew up here know a quieter place: a county of small towns and boroughs such as Biglerville, Fairfield, Littlestown, McSherrystown and York Springs, where an older parent may have shopped at the same store and sat in the same pew for decades.
That's worth naming before you start touring. For some parents, staying in or near Gettysburg itself keeps doctors, friends and familiar streets in reach. For others, a small town at the edge of the county, close to where a daughter or son now lives, matters more. Some families also look toward Hanover, just over the county line, or toward York and the Maryland border. Sit down together, list the people your parent sees each week, and let that list draw the map.
Hospitals for Adams County families
Gettysburg Hospital, on Gettys Street in the borough, is the hospital in town. UPMC Hanover, at 300 Highland Ave. in Hanover, is a full-service acute care hospital. Both are listed in the federal hospital registry kept by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.
Ask each community which hospital its residents usually use and whether that lines up with your parent's doctors. Ask who stays with a resident in the emergency room until family arrives, and how the community gets new medication orders after a hospital discharge. That hand-off is where problems often start, so listen for a specific answer.
Snow and cold in Adams County
South-central Pennsylvania gets real winters. At the Biglerville weather station, in records going back to 1972, 21.4 inches of snow fell on February 6, 2010, and the temperature dropped to 18 degrees below zero in January 1985 and again in January 1994. A storm like that one in 2010 can close country roads across the county for days and keep aides and nurses at home.
For an older adult, winter brings falls on icy walks, missed appointments and long stretches indoors. Summer brings its own questions, from heat to the extra traffic that park visitors can add near the borough. A good community has a plan for both seasons.
Gettysburg winter-roads tour checklist
- If a storm like February 2010 buries Adams County again, how do aides and nurses reach this Gettysburg building, and does anyone stay overnight?
- Who clears the walks and parking lot after a snowfall, and how soon after the plows reach Gettysburg's streets?
- When an ice storm cuts power across Adams County, what does the generator run: heat, lights, the kitchen, the elevator, oxygen equipment?
- How would a resident get to Gettysburg Hospital in a storm, and who rides along?
- If your parent sees a doctor in Hanover, how does the community handle rides to UPMC Hanover when the back roads are icy?
- On a busy summer weekend with battlefield visitors on Baltimore Pike, how long does it take staff and ambulances to reach the building?
- How does the community keep Gettysburg residents moving and social through a cold, gray winter, and does it ever take them to a senior center in Biglerville, Fairfield or Littlestown?
The county's aging office
Your first local call should be to the county's aging office. At 318 West Middle Street in Gettysburg, the Adams County Office for Aging is open Monday through Friday, 8:00 am to 4:30 pm, at (717) 334-9296 or (800) 548-3240. It serves residents age 60 and over with care management, home delivered meals, personal care at home, caregiver support, adult day services and free Medicare counseling through PA MEDI, available by appointment.
Rides are part of the picture too. Transportation for people age 65 and over is provided by rabbittransit, and necessary trips such as medical appointments and senior center visits are free; rabbittransit's number is 1-800-632-9063.
Senior centers around the county
Senior centers in York Springs, Biglerville, McSherrystown, Littlestown and Fairfield are listed by the county's Office for Aging. Each posts its own hours, and most are open several mornings a week. If your parent is lonely or eating poorly at home, a few weeks at the nearest center can be a gentle first step. You'll learn a lot about what kind of company and routine they want before you sign anything.
Veterans near Gettysburg
A VA clinic in the Lebanon VA health care system is at 2251 Eastern Boulevard, Suite 101, in York. If your parent served, ask each community whether it provides rides to York for appointments, and ask the VA about the Aid and Attendance benefit for qualifying veterans and surviving spouses who need help with daily tasks.
Pennsylvania's homes and their records
On Pennsylvania tours you'll meet two kinds of settings. Personal care homes provide shelter, meals, supervision and help with personal care for people who can't live safely at home but don't need 24-hour nursing care. Assisted living residences offer all of that and may serve people with higher care needs. Ask every place which kind it is and what happens if your parent's needs grow.
The state's human services agency inspects both kinds of homes every year and investigates complaints. Its provider directory is linked in the directory disclaimer at the bottom of this page. Use it, then ask the director about anything you find.
What care costs in Pennsylvania
The table below shows Pennsylvania's statewide medians from the CareScout Cost of Care Survey 2025. Local prices vary, and Gettysburg communities may come in above or below the state figure depending on the apartment, the care plan and what the monthly rate covers. Ask for every community's rate sheet, its list of care charges and its increases over the last three years, all in writing.
Questions Gettysburg families ask
Should we look in Gettysburg or in Hanover?
Look where your parent's life already happens. If the doctors and friends are in Gettysburg, start there. If a son or daughter lives toward Hanover, communities near UPMC Hanover may make visits easier.
Who helps older adults in Adams County?
Start with the county's Office for Aging on West Middle Street in Gettysburg. It can explain meals, care at home, caregiver support and Medicare counseling, and it can point you to free rabbittransit rides for medical trips.
Can Mom get to a senior center without driving?
Often, yes. Rides to senior centers are among the necessary trips that rabbittransit provides free for people 65 and older.
How cold and snowy does it get around Gettysburg?
Cold enough to plan for. The Biglerville weather station has recorded 18 below zero and a single-day snowfall of more than 21 inches, so ask every community how it keeps heat, staff and walkways working in that kind of weather.
Next steps
Read our assisted living or memory care guide, call the Adams County Office for Aging, and take the winter-roads checklist on every tour. When you're ready to talk it through, ask for a callback below. One local advisor for Gettysburg will call you back, at no cost.