Apple Valley Center
400 Groton Road, Ayer MA 01432 · (978) 772-1704 · 96.66% estimated occupancy 1Updated: Aug 1, 2020 · By Nick Lata
Apple Valley Center is in Ayer, Massachusetts, a city with 7,089 people. We gave this nursing home an B+ overall grade, ranking it in the top third of all nursing homes in the country. Based on our assessment, this nursing home looks like a good fit for quite a few people. This facility was also given phenomenal grades in each of our categories. More information about these categories can be found below.
Additional Details:
Accepts Medicare 1 :
Accepts Medicaid 1 : 123 Beds
CCRC :
For profit - Corporation
Resident Council:
Family Council:
Medical Staff Hours Per Patient (2019)
Facility Inspections
To go along with its strong overall grade, we awarded this nursing home a grade of A for our inspections rating. Inspection grades account for several factors found on a facility's inspection report. One key criteria we consider is the quantity and severity of deficiencies. Nursing homes with higher scores in this category tend to have very few severe deficiencies. This particular nursing home had just a single deficiency on its inspection report and it was not one deemed to pose a threat to patient health or safety. Finally, this facility had no substantiated complaints this year from residents, which is an excellent sign.
Long-term Care Quality
Contributing to this facility's list of achievements, it also was given a top-shelf long-term care grade. We gave them a strong strong of A- in this category. Facilities that receive this kind of grade in this category tend to provide consistent 24/7 care to ensure residents are well cared for. On top of looking at the quantity of care provided by nurses and other staff, we looked at the number of residents vaccinated against pneumonia. This nursing home administered the vaccine to 98.525795 percent of its residents, which is much higher than the vast majority of nursing homes. Lastly, this place was able to limit hospitalizations. With only 1.24 hospitalizations per 1,000 long-term resident days, this facility has less hospitalizations than the average nursing home.
Short-term Care Quality
This facility also was given an impressive short-term care score. In fact, we gave it an above average score of B+ in this category. In calculating our short-term care scores, we assess the nursing home's levels of highly skilled nursing, which includes registered nurses, physical therapists speech therapists and other highly skilled individuals. This score is often a useful assessment of the nursing home's rehabilitation services. This nursing home employs both physical therapists and registered nurses. Not all facilities employ these skilled professionals. The last measure we considered in this category is the percentage of residents who were able to leave the nursing home and return to the community. It fared as well as just about any facility in Massachusetts in this metric with 58.9 percent of its patients returning home. At most facilities, fewer than half of their short-stay residents are able to return home.
Nurse Quality
The next area we assessed is nursing, in which we awarded it an above average grade of B. This nursing home truly doesn't have any weak links. Our nursing grade is based on the facility's level of nurse staffing. We weigh both the levels of skill of those nurses as well as the quantity of hours spent with residents. This nursing home provides 3.4 hours of nursing care per resident per day. Finally, we also looked at certain nursing quality measures in computing our nursing grades. These include minimizing residents' pressure ulcers and major falls. We look at these data points as predictive indicators of the caliber of nursing care being provided, since better care tends to reduce these problems.
Overall Rating Over Time
Compared to national and state averages across all facilities.
Apple Valley Center Quality Metrics
Minimizes Pressure Ulcers
This figure gauges the percent of long-term care patients that have new or worsened pressure ulcers . We factor in this statistic in computing both nursing and long-term care grades.
Percent of Patients with Pressure Ulcers
Lower is Better
Minimizes Serious Falls
This datapoint is a measure of the percent of long-term patients who had a fall resulting in severe injury. We use this statistic in calculating our nursing grades.
Percent of Patients with Serious Falls
Lower is Better
Minimizes Urinary Tract Infections
This is the percentage of residents who sustained a urinary tract infection. These infections are sometimes linked to poorer hygiene.
Percent of Patients with UTIs
Lower is Better
Appropriately Uses Anti-Psychotic Medication
This is the percent of patients prescribed antipsychotic medications. While antipsychotic medications may be vital to many residents, it is important to make sure these medications are being used only where medically required. In some situations, excessive reliance on these medications may suggest a nursing home is using these medications to subdue residents.
Percent of Patients
Lower is Better
Appropriately Uses Anti-Anxiety Medication
This figure gauges the percent of long-term care residents who were administered antianxiety medication. These drugs are typically given to patients suffering from depression or anxiety.
Percent of Patients
Lower is Better
Managing Depression Among Residents
This datapoint measures the percentage of long-term stay patients showing signs of depression.
Percent of Patients
Lower is Better
Appropriate Vaccine Usage
This metric measures the percent of long-term stay patients that received the pneumonia and flu vaccines. Respiratory viruses can be very dangerous for seniors, making these vaccines critical to patient health.
Percent of Patients
Higher is Better
Residents Maintain Autonomy
This indicates the percent of residents that required increased assistance with activities of daily living over time.
Percentage of Patients
Lower is Better
Ability to Keep Residents Mobile
This is a measure of the percent of long-term care residents that maintained mobility.
Percentage of Residents
Higher is Better
Hospitalizations
This is the number of hospitalizations per thousand days of patient care.
Hospitalizations per 1,000 resident days
Lower is Better
Short-term Care: Rehospitalizations
This datapoint is a measure of the number of times residents are rehospitalized per thousand days of short-term patient care.
Percentage of Residents Rehospitalized
Lower is Better
Short-term Care: ER Visits
This datapoint is a measure of the number of times residents are sent to the emergency room per thousand days of short-term patient care. Avoiding medical emergencies is one way to measure patient well-being during rehabilitation.
Percentage of Patients
Lower is Better
Short-term Care: Facilitates Functional Improvement
This metric is a measure of the percent of short-term residents that saw functional improvements.
Percentage of Resident
Higher is Better