Catawba County, North Carolina, is home to 157,974 people, 17.3 percent of whom are 65 or over, which is about 27,329 seniors — some of whom have Alzheimer's disease or other forms of dementia. In North Carolina, there are an estimated 170,000 individuals living with Alzheimer's disease, according to the Alzheimer's Association. In 2025, it's estimated this number will have risen to 210,000, an increase of about 23.5 percent.
For those residents of Catawba County who require memory care, there are two memory care facilities, both of which are located in Hickory. Memory care facilities are officially known as Special Care Units (SCUs) in Catawba County, as in the rest of North Carolina.