Darcy Hall of Life Care
2170 Palm Beach Lakes Blvd, West Palm Beach FL 33409 · (561) 683-3333 · 81.13% estimated occupancy 1Updated: Aug 1, 2020 · By Nick Reese
Darcy Hall of Life Care is a very-large nursing home in West Palm Beach, Florida. Featuring an overall score of D, this is a well below average nursing home. We found this to be one of three worst facilities in West Palm Beach. With so many other nursing homes in the city, you should be able to do better. The best thing we can really say about this place is that it didn't receive any F's in any of the categories we assessed. More information about these categories can be found below.
Additional Details:
Accepts Medicare 1 :
Accepts Medicaid 1 : 220 Beds
CCRC :
For profit - Corporation
Resident Council:
Family Council:
Medical Staff Hours Per Patient (2019)
Facility Inspections
Although we were not high on this facility overall, we gave it a B- for our inspections rating. This grade is better than this place's overall grade. 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. This particular nursing home received 6 deficiencies on its inspection report. Another area of concern is that CMS flagged this nursing home for possible abuse or neglect. This is not what you want to see. We advise you to direct your search elsewhere.
Nurse Quality
One of the other reasons we rated this nursing home so highly is that it received a very impressive nursing score. In that category, we awarded this facility an B-. Nursing scores are based largely on nurse staffing levels. Based on the data, it looks like this place provides an impressive 4 hours of nursing care per resident per day. Out of this total, nearly one fourth of these hours were provided by registered nurses, which are one of the more highly skilled levels of nurses. Finally, we also looked at some nursing quality measures in computing our nursing ratings. This nursing home performed well when it comes to avoiding pressure ulcers and major falls. Many consider these to be accurate indicators of quality of nursing care.
Short-term Care Quality
This nursing home's third highest area was its short-term care grade, where it was given a B-. In crafting our short-term care ratings, we quantify the facility's skilled nursing services, such as those performed by registered nurses, occupational therapists, physical therapists and other types of therapists. The purpose is to devise a measure for comparing the rehabilitation services of different facilities. This nursing home excelled in the two key staffing areas we looked at. The facility supplied more care from physical therapists and registered nurses than a typical facility. This is a very favorable sign. The last datapoint we considered in this area is the number of residents who were able to leave the facility and return to the community. We discovered that just 36.8 percent of this facility's residents were able to return home, which is actually below average.
Long-term Care Quality
The next category we graded was long-term care. For this category, we awarded this facility a B-. Our long-term care grade focuses on a nursing home's assistance with daily living rather than the highly skilled nursing and medical services that are critical to a skilled nursing facility. On top of assessing the amount of care provided by aids and other staff, we analyzed the percentage of residents vaccinated against pneumonia. Thankfully, this facility vaccinated 97.73829 percent of its residents, which is a very solid percentage. Lastly, we looked at the nursing home's number of hospitalizations. Here we found that this place had 2.91 hospitalizations per 1,000 long-term resident days. Although this figure is quite a bit higher than the national average, this statistic can be skewed for some nursing homes based on the medical complexity of patients.
Overall Rating Over Time
Compared to national and state averages across all facilities.
Darcy Hall of Life Care Quality Metrics
Minimizes Pressure Ulcers
This indicates the percentage of patients who have had a pressure ulcer. Pressure ulcers, also called bed sores, are routinely the result of patients not being moved frequently enough. Better nursing protocols reduces the number of pressure ulcers sustained by residents in a nursing home.
Percent of Patients with Pressure Ulcers
Lower is Better
Minimizes Serious Falls
This tells you the percentage of residents that have had a major fall. Falls leading to serious injury are routinely associated with poor nursing care. Better nursing protocols reduces the number of major falls sustained by residents in a nursing home.
Percent of Patients with Serious Falls
Lower is Better
Minimizes Urinary Tract Infections
This is the percent of residents who suffered from a urinary tract infection. These infections could be linked to poor hygiene.
Percent of Patients with UTIs
Lower is Better
Appropriately Uses Anti-Psychotic Medication
This is the percent of residents given antipsychotic drugs. Antipsychotic medications are prescribed to residents for a variety of medical conditions, including Alzheimer's or other dementias. Sadly, in limited cases, increased usage of these drugs may suggest a nursing home is using these drugs to subdue residents.
Percent of Patients
Lower is Better
Appropriately Uses Anti-Anxiety Medication
This datapoint is an indication of the percentage of long-term stay residents taking antianxiety medications.
Percent of Patients
Lower is Better
Managing Depression Among Residents
This metric measures the percentage of long-term stay residents demonstrating symptoms of depression. Many believe this is a reliable measure of resident quality of care.
Percent of Patients
Lower is Better
Appropriate Vaccine Usage
This indicates the percent of patients that have received the flu and pneumonia vaccines. High vaccination rates should be standard at this point.
Percent of Patients
Higher is Better
Residents Maintain Autonomy
This tells you the percentage of residents who needed more assistance with activities of daily living over time.
Percentage of Patients
Lower is Better
Ability to Keep Residents Mobile
This datapoint is a measure of the percent of long-term care patients who retained mobility levels. Many in the industry believe that the ability to move around is critical to residents' mental and physical well-being.
Percentage of Residents
Higher is Better
Hospitalizations
This tells you the number of hospitalizations per 1,000 days of patient care. There is usually a correlation between having fewer hospitalizations and the overall quality of long-term care.
Hospitalizations per 1,000 resident days
Lower is Better
Short-term Care: Rehospitalizations
This indicates the number of times residents are rehospitalized per 1,000 days of short-term care.
Percentage of Residents Rehospitalized
Lower is Better
Short-term Care: ER Visits
This datapoint is a measure of 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 datapoint measures the percent of short-term care residents that experienced functional improvements, such as enhanced ability to perform activities of daily living. Many in the industry believe that this is a reasonable measure of a facility's rehabilitation performance.
Percentage of Resident
Higher is Better