Alaris Health at Essex

This facility's best category grade came in the category of inspections. In that area, we awarded this facility a grade of B. It outperformed most facilities in this category. Inspection scores weigh a host of factors included in a nursing home's inspection reports. One of the most important criteria we look at is the number and severity of deficiencies. Places with better grades in this category tend to have very few of these severe deficiencies. While this place had some minor dings on its inspection report, it had no severe deficiencies. Severe deficiencies are those labeled as categories G, H, I, J, K and L. This tells you the inspectors didn't consider any of the deficiencies on this facility's report to pose an imminent threat to patient health or safety. Keep in mind that deficiency-free inspections are uncommon in this industry.

This facility also was awarded a positive score in our short-term care category. We gave this facility a better than average grade of B in that area. Our short-term care grades are arguably more meaningful for patients requiring rehabilitation from their nursing home. Rehabilitation usually requires more skilled nursing services. Skilled nursing includes not just nursing, but also physical and respiratory therapy, as well as other forms of therapy. Fortunately, it appear that this nursing home has registered nurses on staff. Not all facilities employs these skilled professionals. However, according to the data this nursing home provided, it does not look like the facility employs physical therapists. The last statistic we looked at in this category is the number of patients who were able to leave the facility and return home. We found that 4.3 percent of this nursing home's residents returned home.

This nursing home also received a strong nursing grade. In fact, we awarded it a grade of B in that category, which is one of our better scores. Our nursing score considers many subcategories. The most important variable is the number of hours nurses spend with patients. This particular nursing home provided 0.4 hours of nursing care per resident per day. Finally, we also assessed several nursing quality-based metrics and this facility excelled in some of these areas. With less than five percent of its residents sustaining pressure ulcers, it performed as well as any nursing home the nation in this category. This is generally a good indicator of quality nursing care. Pressure ulcers can many times be prevented by offering better nursing care, such as by having a policy of moving a resident more frequently.

The next area we assessed is long-term care, where this facility received a B. This nursing home didn't prove to have any weak spots. When facilities receive this kind of score in this category it is usually a good sign for patient care and indicates that the facility is well-staffed with nurses aids. On top of assessing the amount of care provided by aids and other staff, we looked at the percentage of residents vaccinated against pneumonia. This facility vaccinated 100 percent of its patients. Vaccines are vital to keeping residents out of the hospital. Lastly, this place was able to limit hospitalizations. Indeed, it had only 0.05 hospitalizations per 1,000 long-term resident days, which is an impressively low figure.