Ballou Home for the Aged

To go along with its strong overall score, we awarded this facility a grade of A+ for our inspection category. Perhaps the most critical factor we consider in calculating our inspection ratings is deficiencies. Deficiencies are found on a facility's inspection reports. Facilities with better scores in this category most likely dodged the most severe deficiencies involving things like patient abuse. Fortunately, although this facility had a few minor dings on its inspection report, it had zero severe deficiencies. Severe deficiencies are found in categories G, H, I, J, K and L. This tells you that CMS did not consider any of the deficiencies on this facility's report to pose an imminent threat to patient health or safety. Finally, this facility had no substantiated complaints this year from residents, which is an excellent sign.

In addition, this facility received high marks in the area of nursing. As a result, it received one of our highest grades in that category with a score of A+. Nursing grades are mostly associated with the facility's level of nurse staffing. This particular nursing home provided 0.7 hours of nursing care per resident per day. 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 facility has reliable quality controls in place. Major falls can generally be prevented if more nurses aids and better safety protocols are in place.

Turning our third category, this facility received an excellent long-term care grade. In fact, it received a grade of A in that area. Facilities that receive this type of grade in long-term care typically provide consistent 24/7 care to ensure patients are kept in good health. Once we assessed the volume of nursing care, we next considered the facility's vaccination record. This facility vaccinated 100 percent of its residents for pneumonia, which is what we like to see. Pneumonia is often a life or death illness for nursing home residents so we strongly prefer when a nursing home does not leave its residents vulnerable. Finally, this facility was able to limit hospitalizations. In fact, it had only 0.01 hospitalizations per one thousand long-term resident days, which is a remarkably low figure.

The fourth category we assessed is short-term care, where this facility was awarded an A. This wrapped up a very strong profile. Few facilities received an A- or better in every single category. Our short-term care grade is often used to score a facility's rehabilitation services. To offer quality rehabilitation services, nursing homes generally must offer better levels of highly skilled nursing. Skilled nursing includes registered nurses, physical therapists, respiratory therapists and other highly skilled individuals. Fortunately, it looks like this facility has registered nurses on staff. Not every nursing home employs these skilled professionals. On the other hand, according to the information this nursing home provided, they do not appear to employ physical therapists. The final item we assessed in this area is the percentage of patients who were able to leave the facility and return to the community. We found that 0 percent of this nursing home's patients were able to return home.