Aitkin Health Services
301 Minnesota Avenue South, Aitkin MN 56431 · (218) 927-5526 · 98.4% estimated occupancy 1Updated: Aug 1, 2020 · By Sara Levinsohn
Located in Aitkin, Minnesota, Aitkin Health Services is one of just two available facilities in this area. Featuring an overall score of A+, this facility is without a doubt a phenomenal facility. We were so impressed with this nursing home that we ranked it in the top ten percentile of all facilities in the nation. As you will find below, this facility performed equally well in our category grades. In fact, we gave it straight A's!
Additional Details:
Accepts Medicare 1 :
Accepts Medicaid 1 : 44 Beds
CCRC :
Non profit - Corporation
Resident Council:
Family Council:
Medical Staff Hours Per Patient (2019)
Nurse Quality
In addition to receiving a great overall grade, this nursing home received an A+ for nursing. There are a variety of criteria within this category. Many of these criteria are tied to the quantity of nurse staffing. This nursing home provided 3.7 hours of nursing care per resident per day. At least one quarter of this care was provided by registered nurses, which are skilled nurses. This is a high percentage of skilled nursing care. In determining our nursing scores, we apply additional weight to hours provided by registered nurses. Finally, our nursing grades also factor in quality-based assessments, such as avoiding major falls. This place performed well in this area. Avoiding major falls is typically a good indicator that a place has reliable quality controls in place. Major falls can generally be prevented if more nurses aids and better safety protocols are in place.
Long-term Care Quality
This facility also was given an A+ long-term care grade, making it one of the few nursing homes to receive several A+ category grades. Facilities that do well in long-term care typically provide residents with closer supervision and stay on top of routine healthcare services. After considering the quantity of care provided by nurses, we turned to the facility's vaccination data. This facility vaccinated 94.73684 percent of its patients against pneumonia, which is very impressive. Pneumonia is often a dangerous health condition for nursing home residents so we prefer when a nursing home doesn't take any chances. Clearly, this place is doing something right in this area as it was able to keep its residents out of the hospital. Indeed, it had only 0 hospitalizations per 1,000 long-term resident days, which is an impressively low figure.
Short-term Care Quality
Building on its high-end assessment, this facility also received an excellent short-term care score, with a grade of A. Our short-term care grades are based in part on the nursing home's quantity of skilled nursing services. This includes a broad scope of services, ranging from registered nurses to physical and respiratory therapists, as well as other forms of therapy. One reason for this facility's strong score in this category is that it provides more care with registered nurses to its residents than the average nursing home. The last datapoint we assessed in this category is the percentage of patients who were able to return home from the facility. We found that it performed respectably with 48.7 percent of its residents returning home.
Facility Inspections
Another impressive feature for this place is its inspection score. In that area, we awarded this facility a grade of A, completing its straight A performance. Inspection grades take several factors into consideration, including deficiencies and federal fines. You can find more information about each of these factors by reviewing copies of nursing homes' inspection reports. While this place had a few minor dings on its government inspection report, it had no severe deficiencies. Severe deficiencies are those found in categories G, H, I, J, K and L. This means that the government inspectors did not deem any of the deficiencies on this facility's report to pose an imminent threat to patient safety or health. Finally, this facility had no substantiated complaints this year from residents, which is an excellent sign.
Overall Rating Over Time
Compared to national and state averages across all facilities.
Aitkin Health Services Quality Metrics
Minimizes Pressure Ulcers
This metric tells you the percentage of long-term residents that are suffering from new or worsened pressure ulcers . We use this statistic in calculating both nursing and long-term care grades.
Percent of Patients with Pressure Ulcers
Lower is Better
Minimizes Serious Falls
This statistic indicates the percent of long-term patients which have sustained a fall which resulted in severe injury. Falls can arise for a variety of reasons, but excessive numbers of falls could be an indication of lower levels of patient supervision.
Percent of Patients with Serious Falls
Lower is Better
Minimizes Urinary Tract Infections
This metric measures the percentage of long-term stay residents who have sustained a UTI. UTI's could be a sign of a facility with lower levels of hygiene. Nevertheless, this metric could also be skewed for certain nursing homes due to different reporting standards for urinary tract infections.
Percent of Patients with UTIs
Lower is Better
Appropriately Uses Anti-Psychotic Medication
This indicates the percent of patients given antipsychotic medications. These drugs may be used for treating a variety of conditions, including cognitive disorders.
Percent of Patients
Lower is Better
Appropriately Uses Anti-Anxiety Medication
This is the percentage of patients given antianxiety drugs. These medications are generally given to residents suffering from anxiety and depression.
Percent of Patients
Lower is Better
Managing Depression Among Residents
This metric measures the percentage of long-term care patients who are exhibiting depressive symptoms. Many in the industry argue that this is a measure of patient quality of care.
Percent of Patients
Lower is Better
Appropriate Vaccine Usage
This indicates the percent of residents who were given the flu and pneumonia vaccines. Higher vaccination rates should be the norm at this point.
Percent of Patients
Higher is Better
Residents Maintain Autonomy
This is the percent of patients that needed increased assistance with activities of daily living over time. High levels of needing for assistance with activities of daily living may be a sign of the deterioration of a resident's health.
Percentage of Patients
Lower is Better
Ability to Keep Residents Mobile
This metric measures the percent of long-term care residents who maintained mobility.
Percentage of Residents
Higher is Better
Short-term Care: Rehospitalizations
This metric measures the number of rehospitalizations per 1,000 days of short-term care. Keeping residents out of the hospital during rehabilitation is important to restoring the physical well-being of patients.
Percentage of Residents Rehospitalized
Lower is Better
Short-term Care: Facilitates Functional Improvement
Measures the percent of short-term patients that saw functional improvements, such as enhanced ability to perform activities of daily living. Many believe that this is a measure of rehabilitation services.
Percentage of Resident
Higher is Better