The Highlands: Nursing Home OverviewSkip to content

The Highlands

  • Nursing Home
  • Memory Care

Updated Nov 1, 2023 by Nick Lata

Historical Rating
Grade: A-minus
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The Highlands's website

335 Nichols Road,
Fitchburg MA 01420

(978) 343-4411

86.96% estimated occupancy 1

The Highlands is in Fitchburg, Massachusetts. The city has a total of 40,337 people. It looks like this nursing home is ranked among the better nursing homes we assessed. A score of this caliber requires very strong scores across the board. As a matter of fact, this proved to be the best facility in Fitchburg. We also gave this facility impressive scores in all of our categories. More information about these categories can be found below.

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Quick Details

  • Accepts Medicare 1
  • Accepts Medicaid 1
  • No CCRC
  • Has Resident Council
  • No Family Council
  • For profit - Corporation
  • Secure Memory Care 
  • Offers Post-Acute Care 
  • Offers Inpatient Rehab

Specialized Services

  • Personal Care
  • Medication Management
  • Home Making
  • Transportation
  • Speech Therapy
  • IV Antibiotic Therapy
  • Wound Care
  • Occupational Therapy
  • Diabetes Management
  • Physical Therapy
  • Respiratory Therapy
  • Nutritional Counseling
  • Pharmacy
  • Recreational Therapy

Awards

Best Nursing Home in Fitchburg, Massachusetts badge

Best Nursing Home in Fitchburg, Massachusetts Awards 2019

Best Nursing Home in Fitchburg, Massachusetts badge

Best Nursing Home in Fitchburg, Massachusetts Awards 2020

Best Nursing Home in Fitchburg, Massachusetts badge

Best Nursing Home in Fitchburg, Massachusetts Awards 2021

Registered Staff Hours

Medical Staff Hours Per Patient (2022)
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Facility Inspections

Grade: A

To go along with its strong overall grade, we gave this facility a grade of A for inspections. We weigh several aspects of a nursing home's inspection report in computing these inspection ratings. One key factor is deficiencies. It should be noted that the severity of these deficiencies is arguably more meaningful than the quantity of deficiencies, as some are relatively minor. While this place had a few deficiencies on its inspection report, none of them were major deficiencies based on CMS' scale. Keep in mind that deficiency-free inspection reports are uncommon in this industry.

Short-term Care Quality

Grade: A-minus

Adding to its first-rate profile, this nursing home also performed well in our short-term care area. In fact, we gave it a score of A- for the area. In computing our short-term care ratings, we assess the facility's levels of skilled nursing, which includes registered nurses, physical therapists respiratory therapists and other highly skilled individuals. This area is more often than not a meaningful measure of the nursing home's rehabilitation. Fortunately, it appear that this nursing home has registered nurses on staff. Not every nursing home employs these types of nurses. On the other hand, according to the data they provided, they do not appear to employ physical therapists. The final metric we assessed in this category is the percentage of residents who ultimately returned home from the nursing home. We found that 6.3 percent of this nursing home's residents returned home as opposed to remaining at the nursing home on a permanent basis.

Long-term Care Quality

Grade: B-plus

Additionally, this facility also was given favorable long-term care scores in our assessment. Indeed, we gave them one of our stronger grades in that category, with a score of B+. Nursing homes that receive this type of score in this category typically provide consistent 24/7 care to make sure patients are well cared for. In addition to considering the amount of care provided by nurses and other staff, we analyzed the percentage of residents vaccinated for pneumonia. This facility vaccinated 59.00621 percent of its residents. This is slightly below what we anticipated. Clearly, this facility is doing something right in this area as it was able to keep its residents out of the hospital. It had less than one hospitalization per 1,000 long-term resident days, which is a remarkably low number.

Nurse Quality

Grade: B

The final area we scored is nursing. This facility received an impressive nursing rating in our assessment, with a B. Even though this isn't quite as elite as a few of its other scores, this is still one of our better grades in that area. We analyzed the qualifications of nurses employed by the facility, as well as the quantity of hours the nurses worked with residents, in calculating our rating in this area. This nursing home provides 0.3 hours of nursing care per resident per day. Finally, we also looked at some quality-based measures in this category. This place fared well in some of the quality-based metrics we assessed. For example, in terms of the number of its residents suffering from pressure ulcers, this facility performed better than the national average. This is generally an indicator that a place has reliable quality controls in place. Pressure ulcers can many times be prevented with better nursing care.

Rating Over Time

Compared to national and state averages across all facilities.

FDCB-BB+A-AA+Oct 18Dec 23

The Highlands Quality Metrics

Minimizes Pressure Ulcers

Grade: B-plus

In The Highlands, 5.95% of Patients had Pressure Ulcers

This is the percentage of patients who suffered from a pressure ulcer. Pressure ulcers are considered to be a barometer of the quality of nursing care at a nursing home. Pressure ulcers, which are also called bed sores, are often caused by patients staying in one position for too long.

Minimizes Serious Falls

Grade: C

In The Highlands, 4.97% of Patients had Serious Falls

This tells you the percent of residents who sustained a major fall. Falls resulting in serious injuries are routinely linked to lower levels of patient supervision. Additional nurse staffing can minimize the percentage of residents in a nursing home who sustain major falls.

Minimizes Urinary Tract Infections

Grade: B

In The Highlands, 1.52% of Patients had UTIs

This datapoint gauges the percentage of long-term patients who have sustained a urinary tract infection. While a higher rate of these infections could reflect poorly on a facility's cleanliness, it is difficult to compare between facilities due to facilities having varying reporting standards.

Appropriately Uses Anti-Psychotic Medication

Grade: B-plus

In The Highlands, 10.39% of Patients use Anti-Psychotic Medication

This metric indicates the percent of long-term patients taking antipsychotic medications. While antipsychotic drugs serve an important medical purpose, it is important to make sure these drugs are being used appropriately. In limited situations, high levels of antipsychotic drug use may suggest a nursing home is using these medications to subdue residents.

Appropriately Uses Anti-Anxiety Medication

Grade: B-minus

In The Highlands, 22.7% of Patients use Anti-Anxiety Medication

This tells you the percentage of patients who were prescribed antianxiety medications. Antianxiety medications are given to residents experiencing depression and anxiety.

Managing Depression Among Residents

Grade: B

In The Highlands, 3.39% of Patients

This is the percentage of patients who are exhibiting depressive symptoms. Higher levels of depression could be a sign a lower level of care.

Appropriate Vaccine Usage

Grade: F

In The Highlands, 72.25% of Patients

This indicates the percent of residents that received the pneumonia and flu vaccines. Higher vaccination rates should be demanded by residents.

Residents Maintain Autonomy

Grade: B-plus

In The Highlands, 12.94% of Patients

This is the percent of patients who needed additional assistance with activities of daily living over time.

Ability to Keep Residents Mobile

Grade: A

In The Highlands, 23.98% of Residents

This datapoint measures the percentage of long-term patients that retained mobility levels.

Hospitalizations

Grade: B-minus

In The Highlands, 0.02 Hospitalizations per 1,000 resident days

This datapoint measures the number of times residents are hospitalized per thousand days of patient care. Minimizing hospitalizations is important to maintaining the physical well-being of residents.

Short-term Care: Rehospitalizations

Grade: D

In The Highlands, 23.98% of Residents Rehospitalized

This metric tracks the number of rehospitalizations per 1,000 days of short-term patient care. Staying out of the hospital during rehabilitation is key to restoring the health of patients.

Short-term Care: ER Visits

Grade: D

In The Highlands, 17.3% of Patients

This tells you the number of times residents are sent to the emergency room per thousand days of short-term patient care.

Short-term Care: Facilitates Functional Improvement

Grade: C

In The Highlands, 72.65% of Resident

Measures the percent of short-term stay residents that saw functional improvements, such as enhanced ability to perform activities of daily living. Many would argue this is a measure of rehabilitation services.

Nearby Hospitals

  • Health Alliance - Clinton HospitalAcute Care Hospitals 4.34 miles away60 Hospital Road Leominster Massachusetts 01453Voluntary non-profit - Other(978) 466-2000
  • Heywood Hospital -Acute Care Hospitals 9.16 miles away242 Green Street Gardner Massachusetts 01440Voluntary non-profit - Private(978) 632-3420
  • Nashoba Valley Medical CenterAcute Care Hospitals 11.67 miles away200 Groton Road Ayer Massachusetts 01432Proprietary(978) 784-9000
  • St Joseph HospitalAcute Care Hospitals 19.69 miles away172 Kinsley St Nashua New Hampshire 03060Voluntary non-profit - Other(603) 882-3000

Nearby Dialysis

  • Davita Pdi Fitchburg2.05 miles away551 Electric Avenue Fitchburg Massachusetts 01420CMS Rating: 3 stars Dialysis Stations: 19 (978) 343-4100
  • Fresenius Medical Care Southern Nh Dialysis Center18.54 miles away586 Nashua St Unit #20 Milford New Hampshire 03055Dialysis Stations: 13 (603) 672-6678
  • Bio-Medical Applications of New Hampshire, Inc.19.95 miles away20 Cotton Road Suite 200 Nashua New Hampshire 03063Dialysis Stations: 21 (603) 577-4547