Conover Nursing and Rehab Center

On top of being a strong nursing home overall, it also earned A+ health inspections in recent years. Its inspections were virtually perfect. We weigh several aspects of a nursing home's inspection report in determining our inspection ratings. One critical factor is health deficiencies. You should keep in mind that the severity of the deficiencies is usually more important than the number of deficiencies, as some deficiencies can be relatively minor. Fortunately, although this place had some minor dings on its inspection report, it had no severe deficiencies. Severe deficiencies are ones labeled as categories G, H, I, J, K and L. This means the government inspectors didn't deem any of the deficiencies on this facility's report to pose an imminent threat to patient safety or health. Finally, this facility had no substantiated complaints this year from residents, which is an excellent sign.

Among its many impressive grades, this facility received an excellent nursing grade. In fact, we gave it a grade of A in that category. Our nursing grade is mostly associated with the facility's level of nurse staffing. This nursing home averages 0.5 hours of nursing care per resident per day. Finally, our nursing grades also factor in quality-based assessments, such as avoiding major falls. This nursing home performed well in this area. Avoiding major falls is typically a good indicator that a place has reliable quality controls in place. Major falls can typically be prevented if more nurses aids and better safety protocols are in place.

This facility also excelled in the area of short-term care, where it received a score of A-. Very few facilities fared better in this area. Our short-term care scores are critical for people looking for rehabilitation. Rehabilitation typically requires more highly-skilled nursing. This means a wide range of nursing services, spanning from registered nurses to physical and respiratory therapists, as well as other forms of therapy. Fortunately, it looks like this nursing home employs registered nurses. Not all facilities employs these skilled professionals. On the other hand, according to the information they provided, it does not look like the facility employs physical therapists. The last datapoint we looked at in this area is the percentage of patients who ultimately were able to return home from the nursing home. We found that 5.3 percent of this nursing home's residents returned home as opposed to remaining at the nursing home on a permanent basis.

Turning to the fourth category, this nursing home was awarded a high-end long-term care score. In fact, we awarded it a grade of A- in that area, resulting in this facility receiving straight A's. Long-term care scores of this caliber generally require both around the clock care from nurses and aids, as well as quality routine healthcare services. Once we looked at the amount of care provided by aids and other staff, we next considered the facility's vaccination statistics. This facility vaccinated 100 percent of its residents for pneumonia. Vaccines are vital to keeping patients out of the hospital. Lastly, this facility was able to limit hospitalizations. It had less than one hospitalization per one thousand long-term resident days, which is a remarkably low number.