Care One at Essex Park

On top of performing well overall, this facility earned a nearly flawless inspection report. As a result, we gave it one of our highest grades in that area with an A-. We weigh several aspects of a nursing home's inspection report in determining our inspection ratings. One of those factors is health deficiencies. It should be noted that the severity of these deficiencies is usually more important than the number of deficiencies, as some of these can be relatively insignificant. This particular nursing home received 2 deficiencies on its inspection report. Finally, this facility had no substantiated complaints this year from residents, which is an excellent sign.

This facility also was strong in the area of short-term care, where we awarded it a grade of A-. Very few nursing homes fared better in this area. In our short-term care assessment, we attempt to forge a valuable gauge for rehabilitation services. In doing so, we analyze a facility's level of highly-skilled nursing services, including both registered nurses and physical therapy, as well as occupational therapy. Fortunately, it looks like this nursing home employs registered nurses. Not every facility employs these types of nurses. On the other hand, according to the data they provided, they do not appear to employ physical therapists. Lastly, we looked at the number of patients that who were able to eventually return home from this nursing home. We found that 6.3 percent of this facility's residents returned home.

Turning to the third category, this facility also received a score of B+ for its long-term care rating. This is an above average grade in this area. When facilities receive this kind of score in this category it is typically a good sign for resident care and indicates that the place is well-staffed with nurses and aids. On top of looking at the quantity of care provided by nurses aids and other staff, we looked at the number of residents vaccinated against pneumonia. This facility administered the vaccine to 99.57356 percent of its patients. Vaccines are critical to keeping patients out of the hospital. Finally, this facility was able to limit hospitalizations. It had less than one hospitalization per one thousand long-term resident days, which is an impressively low number.

Turning to our final area, this facility was given a highly favorable nursing rating. In fact, we awarded it a B+ in that category, topping off one of our better profiles. There are numerous subcategories within this category. Many of these data points relate to staffing levels. This nursing home provides 0.3 hours of nursing care per resident per day. Finally, we also assessed several nursing quality measures and this place 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 Massachusetts in this category. This is generally a good indicator of quality nursing care. Pressure ulcers can generally be avoided by providing better nursing care, such as by employing a policy of turning a patient at least once a day.