Alpine Living Center
501 East Thornton Parkway, Denver CO 80229 · (303) 452-6101 · 69.8% estimated occupancy 1Updated: Aug 1, 2020 · By Nick Reese
Alpine Living Center is an average-sized facility in Denver, Colorado. Sporting an overall grade of C, this is likely a decent facility. We wanted to point out that Denver received a city grade of B+, so you may wish to consider other options in the city as well. One of the major highlights of this nursing home's profile is its exemplary nursing score, which we will address in the next paragraph.
Additional Details:
Accepts Medicare 1 :
Accepts Medicaid 1 : 101 Beds
CCRC :
For profit - Corporation
Resident Council:
Family Council:
Medical Staff Hours Per Patient (2019)
Nurse Quality
On top of receiving a great overall grade, this facility really excelled in the category of nursing, where it received an A. The nursing score is based on several datapoints. The most heavily weighted factor is the quantity of hours nurses spent with patients. This nursing home provides 3.6 hours of nursing care per resident per day. Finally, our nursing grades also factor in quality-based assessments, such as avoiding major falls. This nursing home performed well in this area. Avoiding major falls is typically a good indicator that a nursing home has reliable quality controls in place. Major falls can often be avoided if more nurses aids and better safety protocols are in place.
Short-term Care Quality
This nursing home's short-term care score ended up being one of its respectable scores. The facility was given a C in this area. In computing these short-term care ratings, we look at the facility's skilled nursing services, such as those performed by registered nurses, respiratory therapists, physical therapists and other types of skilled professionals. Our goal is to devise a tool for sizing up the rehabilitation services of various nursing homes. When we assessed this facility's nursing hours, we found it offered more care from registered nurses than most nursing homes. The last datapoint we looked at in this area is the number of residents that ultimately returned home from the nursing home. We found that just 26.4 percent of this nursing home's patients returned home. This figure is below average.
Facility Inspections
This nursing home also received a decent inspection grade. In that area, we gave this facility a grade of C. Inspection grades account for a host of factors found on a facility's inspection reports. One of the most important criteria we look at is the quantity and severity of deficiencies. This place was hit with 3 deficiencies on its inspection report, but fortunately none were in categories G through L. This indicates it dodged the more ominous categories of deficiencies. Unfortunately, we also need to draw your attention to the fact that this facility received significant government fines in recent years.
Long-term Care Quality
This facility's least impressive category is long-term care, which is the last area we assessed. For this area, we awarded this nursing home a grade of just D. For prospective patients looking for a permanent place to live as opposed to rehabilitation, long-term care grades are an important measure. In addition to assessing the volume of care provided by nurses and other staff, we looked at the number of residents vaccinated against pneumonia. Thankfully, this facility gave the vaccine to 99.63768 percent of its residents, which is a very solid total. Surprisingly, this nursing home was able to limit hospitalizations. Although it had 2.64 hospitalizations per 1,000 long-term resident days, its risk adjusted score was not bad since it had more complex patients.
Overall Rating Over Time
Compared to national and state averages across all facilities.
Alpine Living Center Quality Metrics
Minimizes Pressure Ulcers
This tells you the percent of residents who suffered from a pressure ulcer. Pressure ulcers are skin damage due to staying in one position for too long.
Percent of Patients with Pressure Ulcers
Lower is Better
Minimizes Serious Falls
This is the percentage of residents that suffered from a major fall. Falls leading to major injury are considered by many experts to be a measure of nursing care . Falls leading to injury are routinely the result of poor nursing care.
Percent of Patients with Serious Falls
Lower is Better
Minimizes Urinary Tract Infections
This statistic is an indication of the percent of long-term residents that had UTI's. While more of these infections may reflect poorly on a nursing home's nursing care, it can be problematic to compare between nursing homes due to inconsistent reporting standards.
Percent of Patients with UTIs
Lower is Better
Appropriately Uses Anti-Psychotic Medication
This statistic indicates the percent of long-term patients taking antipsychotic drugs. While antipsychotic drugs serve an important medical purpose, it is important to confirm these drugs are being used only where medically required. In limited situations, high levels of antipsychotic drug use may mean that a nursing home is using these drugs to control patient behavior.
Percent of Patients
Lower is Better
Appropriately Uses Anti-Anxiety Medication
This tells you the percentage of residents prescribed antianxiety medications. These medications are commonly prescribed to residents experiencing depression and anxiety.
Percent of Patients
Lower is Better
Managing Depression Among Residents
This is the percent of patients who are demonstrating symptoms of depression. High levels of depression could indicate lower quality care.
Percent of Patients
Lower is Better
Appropriate Vaccine Usage
This datapoint is a measure of the percentage of long-term care residents who were vaccinated against pneumonia and flu.
Percent of Patients
Higher is Better
Residents Maintain Autonomy
This indicates the percentage of patients that needed more assistance with activities of daily living over time. Higher levels of dependence on staff for assistance with ADL's may indicate decline of a resident's well-being.
Percentage of Patients
Lower is Better
Ability to Keep Residents Mobile
This is a measure of the percentage of long-term stay patients that were able to retain mobility. Many believe that the ability to move around is critical to patients well-being.
Percentage of Residents
Higher is Better
Hospitalizations
This metric measures the number of times residents are hospitalized per thousand days of patient care.
Hospitalizations per 1,000 resident days
Lower is Better
Short-term Care: Rehospitalizations
This tells you the number of rehospitalizations per 1,000 days of short-term patient care.
Percentage of Residents Rehospitalized
Lower is Better
Short-term Care: ER Visits
This datapoint measures the number of emergency room visits per thousand days of short-term patient care.
Percentage of Patients
Lower is Better
Short-term Care: Facilitates Functional Improvement
This indicates the percent of short-term residents who experienced functional improvements, such as with activities of daily living.
Percentage of Resident
Higher is Better