Clarkfield Care Center

To pair with its strong overall grade, we awarded this nursing home a grade of A+ for its nursing grade. When nursing homes receive a score in this range in long-term care it generally means it has plenty of staff and is a quality place to reside on a permanent basis. After looking at the amount of care provided by nurses and other staff, we then looked at the facility's vaccination data. This facility vaccinated 100 percent of its patients against pneumonia. Vaccines are vital to keeping patients out of the hospital. Finally, this facility was able to limit hospitalizations. It had only 0 hospitalizations per 1,000 long-term resident days, which is a remarkably low figure.

One of the other reasons we graded this facility so highly is that it earned a very impressive nursing score. This proved to be its second best category grade. In that category, we gave this facility an A+. Our nursing grade focuses on the facility's nurse staffing levels. We factor in both the levels of training of those nurses as well as the quantity of hours spent with patients. This nursing home provides 0.5 hours of nursing care per resident per day. Finally, we also assessed some nursing quality-based metrics in determining our nursing grades. This nursing home performed very well in terms of avoiding pressure ulcers and major falls. We consider these areas to be good indicators of the quality of nursing care.

Turning our next category, this nursing home was awarded a top-shelf short-term care score. In fact, it received a score of A in this area. In forming our short-term care scores, we assess the nursing home's skilled nursing services, such as those performed by registered nurses, occupational therapists, physical therapists and other types of skilled professionals. The goal is to create a barometer for comparing the rehabilitation services of different facilities. Fortunately, it looks like this nursing home has registered nurses on staff. Not all facilities employs these skilled professionals. On the other hand, based on the data they provided, it does not look like the facility employs physical therapists. The last statistic we looked at in this area is the percentage of residents who were able to return home from the nursing home. We found that 0 percent of this nursing home's patients returned home as opposed to remaining at the facility on a permanent basis.

In addition, this facility also received a virtually flawless government inspection report. As a result, it earned one of our highest grades in that category with an A-. With this impressive grade, this place is one of the few facilities in Minnesota to receive straight A's. Perhaps the most significant factor we look at in calculating our inspection ratings is deficiencies. These deficiencies are found on a nursing home's inspection reports. Nursing homes with higher grades in this area most likely dodged the more severe deficiencies involving health risks or even death. 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.