Cottage of the Shoals
500 John Aldridge Drive, Tuscumbia AL 35674 · (256) 383-4541 · 82.13% estimated occupancy 1Updated: Aug 1, 2020 · By Nick Lata
Cottage of the Shoals is located in Tuscumbia, Alabama, a city with a population of 18,475 people. This nursing home was given an A- overall, which is one of our more impressive grades. We were so impressed with this nursing home that we ranked it in the top 25 percent of all nursing homes in the nation. This nursing home's impressive report card was highlighted by its inspection score, which you can find in the next section.
Additional Details:
Accepts Medicare 1 :
Accepts Medicaid 1 : 103 Beds
CCRC :
For profit - Corporation
Resident Council:
Family Council:
Medical Staff Hours Per Patient (2019)
Facility Inspections
To go along with its strong overall grade, we awarded this place an A+ for our inspections rating. Our inspection scores account for a host of factors included in a nursing home's inspection reports. One key criteria we consider is the number and severity of deficiencies. Facilities with better grades in this category usually have very few of these severe deficiencies. This nursing home received 2 deficiencies on its inspection report, but none of the deficiencies were considered severe. This indicates that the government inspectors didn't consider any of these deficiencies an immediate threat to resident health or safety. Finally, this facility had no substantiated complaints this year from residents, which is an excellent sign.
Short-term Care Quality
To add to its top-shelf accomplishments in other areas, we gave this facility a score of A for our short-term care rating. In the area of short-term care, we endeavor to qualify indicators of a facility's rehabilitation services. We look at the facility's skilled nursing services, including those performed by registered nurses and physical therapists. One of this nursing home's strengths is it offers more than an hour of care per day from registered nurses to each resident. This is really the gold standard in this metric, as it's about 50% higher than a typical place's level of registered nurse staffing. The final datapoint we assessed in this area is the number of patients that ultimately were able to return home from the facility. We found that it fared as well as just about any facility in Alabama with 60.5 percent of its patients returning home.
Long-term Care Quality
Turning to another strength for this nursing home, we awarded them one of our more favorable grades in our long-term care category as well, with a grade of B+. Facilities that receive this type of grade in this category tend to provide consistent 24/7 care to make sure patients are well cared for. After looking at the amount of care provided by nurses and other staff, we turned to the facility's vaccination record. This nursing home vaccinated 97.86477 percent of its patients for pneumonia, which is far higher than the vast majority of nursing homes. This facility was also able to keep its residents out of the hospital. It had only 1.64 hospitalizations per one thousand long-term resident days.
Nurse Quality
The last category we rated is nursing, in which this facility was given a B-. This actually ended up being this facility's least impressive category. This is nevertheless not the end of the world. The nursing score features several subcategories. The most heavily weighted variable is the number of hours nurses spend with residents. This nursing home provided 3.4 hours of nursing care per resident on a daily basis. At least one quarter of this care was provided by registered nurses, which are highly skilled nurses. This is a high percentage of skilled nursing care. We weight these hours more in determining our ratings. Finally, we also factored a few quality-based metrics into our nursing grades. This facility was relatively weak in some of the data points we look at, with below average scores for minimizing its patients' major falls and pressure ulcers. These areas are typically reliable indicators of the quality of nursing care provided.
Overall Rating Over Time
Compared to national and state averages across all facilities.
Cottage of the Shoals Quality Metrics
Minimizes Pressure Ulcers
This figure tells you the percentage of long-term stay patients that suffered from pressure ulcers or bed sores. We use this statistic in calculating our nursing grades.
Percent of Patients with Pressure Ulcers
Lower is Better
Minimizes Serious Falls
This datapoint is a measure of the percentage of long-term stay patients that have sustained a fall which resulted in serious injury. We use this statistic in determining nursing ratings.
Percent of Patients with Serious Falls
Lower is Better
Minimizes Urinary Tract Infections
This is the percentage of residents who have had a urinary tract infection. UTI's are considered by many in the nursing home industry to be a measure of nursing care . UTI's are often associated with lower quality nursing care. Nevertheless, this statistic can be skewed for certain nursing homes due to varying reporting standards for urinary tract infections.
Percent of Patients with UTIs
Lower is Better
Appropriately Uses Anti-Psychotic Medication
This statistic measures the percent of long-term stay patients taking antipsychotic drugs. While antipsychotic medications serve an important medical purpose, it is important to confirm these medications are being used only where medically required. In limited situations, excessive reliance on these medications may suggest that a nursing home is using these medications to control patient behavior.
Percent of Patients
Lower is Better
Appropriately Uses Anti-Anxiety Medication
This indicates the percent of patients given antianxiety drugs. These drugs are generally prescribed to residents experiencing depression and anxiety.
Percent of Patients
Lower is Better
Managing Depression Among Residents
This is the percentage of patients who are demonstrating depressive symptoms.
Percent of Patients
Lower is Better
Appropriate Vaccine Usage
This is the percent of patients that were administered the flu and pneumonia vaccines. High vaccination rates should be the norm at this point.
Percent of Patients
Higher is Better
Residents Maintain Autonomy
This datapoint measures the percent of long-term patients that needed additional assistance with activities of daily living over time. ADL's include activities such as dressing and continence.
Percentage of Patients
Lower is Better
Ability to Keep Residents Mobile
This tells you the percent of residents who remained mobile levels over time. Preserving mobility is often a great sign for residents' well-being.
Percentage of Residents
Higher is Better
Hospitalizations
This is the number of hospitalizations per 1,000 days of patient care. There is a correlation between avoiding hospitalizations and the quality of long-term care.
Hospitalizations per 1,000 resident days
Lower is Better
Short-term Care: Rehospitalizations
This is the number of rehospitalizations per thousand days of short-term patient care.
Percentage of Residents Rehospitalized
Lower is Better
Short-term Care: ER Visits
This indicates the number of times residents are sent to the emergency room per thousand days of short-term care. There is typically a correlation between staying out of the emergency room and the overall quality of care.
Percentage of Patients
Lower is Better
Short-term Care: Facilitates Functional Improvement
This is the percentage of short-term residents who saw functional improvements, such as enhanced ability to perform activities of daily living. Higher levels of independence with ADL's often correlates with superior rehabilitation.
Percentage of Resident
Higher is Better