Delano Regional Medical Center

In addition to performing well in its overall grade, this nursing home performed at an even higher level in the area of inspections. In fact, it received a nearly flawless inspection report this year. As a result, it received one of our highest grades in that category with a score of A-. Inspection grades account for several factors found on a nursing home's inspection report. One of the most important criteria we look at is the number and severity of deficiencies. Places with higher grades in this area typically have few of these severe deficiencies. Amazingly, this was one of the few nursing homes in the country that had no deficiencies whatsoever on its inspection report. This is very impressive. Finally, this facility had no substantiated complaints this year from residents, which is an excellent sign.

Adding to this nursing home's list of accomplishments, it also received a first-rate long-term care grade. We awarded them a dominant grade of A- in this area. Facilities that receive this type of grade in this category typically provide consistent 24/7 care to make sure patients are kept in good health. Once we assessed the volume of care provided by nurses aids and other staff, we then analyzed the nursing home's vaccination records. This nursing home vaccinated 98.15951 percent of its patients for pneumonia, which is significantly higher than the vast majority of nursing homes. Finally, this place was able to limit hospitalizations. Indeed, it had less than one hospitalization per one thousand long-term resident days, which is a remarkably low number.

Turning to the category of nursing care, this facility didn't perform quite as well in this area as some of the categories discussed above. Nevertheless, a grade of B- in this category is by no means a bad score. In determining a facility's nursing score, we consider the quantity of hours nurses commit to residents and the level of licensure of those nurses. This nursing home provides 0.7 hours of nursing care per patient per day. This is a lower figure than we are used to seeing. Lastly, we also looked at several nursing quality measures. While this place got dinged a bit for its nursing hours, it actually excelled in a few of these quality-based metrics. With fewer than five percent of its patients experiencing pressure ulcers, it fared well in this subcategory. This is generally a good indicator of quality nursing care. Pressure ulcers can many times be avoided by providing better nursing care, such as by employing a system of moving patients even once per day.

Switching gears to our fourth area, this nursing home was given a grade of C in short-term care, which is generally a decent score. Our short-term care grades are believed to be more meaningful for folks needing a nursing home for rehabilitation. Rehabilitation generally requires higher levels of skilled nursing services. This means not merely nursing services, but also physical and speech therapy, as well as other types of therapy. Fortunately, it appear that this facility has registered nurses on staff. Not every nursing home employs these skilled professionals. On the other hand, according to the data this nursing home provided, it does not look like the facility employs physical therapists. Lastly, we considered the number of residents who who were able to eventually return home from this nursing home. We found that 0 percent of this facility's patients were able to return home. This figure was actually well below average.