Berkshire Center
5501 Perkiomen Avenue, Reading PA 19606 · (610) 779-0600 · 96.3% estimated occupancy 1Updated: Aug 1, 2020 · By Nick Lata
Berkshire Center is one of a variety of options to choose from in Reading, Pennsylvania. Featuring an overall grade of B, this facility is a very good choice. This ended up being one of the top three facilities in Reading. This facility was stronger in some categories than others, but it did not have any weak links in any of our major categories. More information about these categories can be found below.
Additional Details:
Accepts Medicare 1 :
Accepts Medicaid 1 : 130 Beds
CCRC :
For profit - Corporation
Resident Council:
Family Council:
Medical Staff Hours Per Patient (2019)
Facility Inspections
On top of performing well in its overall grade, this nursing home performed at an even higher level in the area of inspections. In fact, it received a nearly flawless inspection report this year. As a result, it received one of our highest grades in that category with a score of A+. These inspection ratings weigh several factors, including deficiencies, substantiated complaints and federal fines. You can learn more about each of these issues by reviewing copies of nursing homes' inspection reports. Fortunately, although this place had some minor dings on its government inspection report, it had zero severe deficiencies. Severe deficiencies are those found in categories G, H, I, J, K and L. This means the inspectors didn't deem any of the deficiencies on this facility's report to pose an imminent threat to patient health or safety. Remember that deficiency-free inspection reports are rare in the industry.
Nurse Quality
Among its many impressive scores, this nursing home received an excellent nursing grade. We gave it an B+ in that category. Nursing grades are mostly tied to the nursing home's nurse staffing. This nursing home provides 3.2 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 country in this category. This is generally a good indicator of quality nursing care. Pressure ulcers can typically be avoided by offering better nursing care, such as employing a system of moving patients at least once a day.
Short-term Care Quality
Turning to an additional strength for this facility, we gave them one of our stronger scores in our short-term care category as well, with a grade of B. Our short-term care grades are crucial for prospective residents in need of rehabilitation. Rehabilitation generally requires more skilled nursing. Skilled nursing includes a broad spectrum of nursing services, spanning from registered nurses to physical and respiratory therapists, as well as other variations of therapy. This nursing home employs both physical therapists and registered nurses. Not all facilities employ these skilled professionals. The last item we assessed in this area is the number of residents that ultimately returned home from the facility. It performed better than most nursing homes in this area with 55.7 percent of its residents returning home. For most nursing homes, fewer than half of their short-stay residents are able to return home.
Long-term Care Quality
The final area we assessed is long-term care. This facility received a C for this category. Our long-term care scores are based in part on a nursing home's volume of nursing care. This means a broad range of personal care services, ranging from help with activities of daily living to routine medical services. Once we concluded our assessment of the quantity of nursing care, we next considered the facility's vaccination data. We were optimistic to find that this facility vaccinated 98.51117 percent of its patients for pneumonia. This facility was able to keep its patients out of the hospital. In fact, it had less than one hospitalization per 1,000 long-term resident days, which is a remarkably low number.
Overall Rating Over Time
Compared to national and state averages across all facilities.
Berkshire Center Quality Metrics
Minimizes Pressure Ulcers
This statistic is an indication of the percent of long-term stay patients which suffer from new or worsened pressure ulcers. We have found that pressure ulcers are a reliable measure of the quality of nursing care a nursing home provides.
Percent of Patients with Pressure Ulcers
Lower is Better
Minimizes Serious Falls
This tells you the percent of residents who suffered from a fall which resulted in severe injury.
Percent of Patients with Serious Falls
Lower is Better
Minimizes Urinary Tract Infections
This indicates the percent of long-term care residents who have experienced urinary tract infections. Although more infections could reflect poorly on a nursing home's hygiene protocols, it can be difficult to compare different facilities due to facilities having inconsistent reporting standards.
Percent of Patients with UTIs
Lower is Better
Appropriately Uses Anti-Psychotic Medication
This metric is a measure of the percent of long-term patients taking antipsychotic drugs. While antipsychotic medications serve an important medical purpose, it is important to confirm these medications are being used appropriately. In limited situations, excessive reliance on these medications may suggest that a facility is using these drugs to subdue residents.
Percent of Patients
Lower is Better
Appropriately Uses Anti-Anxiety Medication
This is the percent of patients who were given antianxiety drugs. These medications are generally prescribed to patients suffering from anxiety or depression.
Percent of Patients
Lower is Better
Managing Depression Among Residents
This metric is a measure of the percent of long-term care residents demonstrating symptoms of depression.
Percent of Patients
Lower is Better
Appropriate Vaccine Usage
This tells you the percent of patients who received the pneumonia and flu vaccines. High vaccination rates should be the norm at this point.
Percent of Patients
Higher is Better
Residents Maintain Autonomy
This indicates the percentage of patients that needed additional assistance with activities of daily living over time.
Percentage of Patients
Lower is Better
Ability to Keep Residents Mobile
This datapoint measures the percentage of long-term stay residents that remained mobile levels.
Percentage of Residents
Higher is Better
Hospitalizations
This is the number of hospitalizations per 1,000 days of patient care. There is typically a correlation between avoiding hospitalizations and the quality of nursing home care.
Hospitalizations per 1,000 resident days
Lower is Better
Short-term Care: Rehospitalizations
This is 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 is a measure of the percent of short-term residents that saw functional improvements, such as with activities of daily living. Many in the industry believe that this is a reasonable measure of a facility's rehabilitation services.
Percentage of Resident
Higher is Better