Edenbrook of Oshkosh

This facility received a solid overall grade as described above, but we really wanted to point out its nearly flawless inspections in recent years. We gave them an impressive grade of A+ in this category. Our inspection scores account for a host of factors found on a facility's inspection report. One of the most important criteria we rely on is the number and severity of deficiencies. Nursing homes with better grades in this area generally have few severe deficiencies. This facility received 4 deficiencies on its inspection report, but we were relieved to see that none of the deficiencies were considered to be major deficiencies. This tells you that the government inspectors didn't deem any of these deficiencies to create an imminent threat to resident health or safety. A few minor deficiencies shouldn't lead you to cross a nursing home off your list.

This nursing home's second most favorable area turned out to be long-term care. In that category, we gave this facility a grade of C. For prospective residents seeking a permanent place to live as opposed to skilled nursing, long-term care grades are a key measure. Once we concluded our assessment of the amount of nursing care, we next considered the facility's vaccination records. Frankly, we were a bit worried that this nursing home vaccinated only 90.625 percent of its residents for pneumonia. Nevertheless, this facility was able to keep its patients out of the hospital. In fact, it had only 0 hospitalizations per one thousand long-term resident days, which is a remarkably low number.

This nursing home's next best category was nursing. We awarded it a grade of C in this category. This is basically a middle of the road grade in this category. Nursing ratings are tied to quality and quantity of nursing care. This place provides only 0.3 hours of nursing care per patient each day. This is a somewhat concerning figure as it is well below the national average. Despite having low quantities of nursing care, this place actually fared better in some of the quality-based metrics we looked at. It performed well in terms of minimizing its residents' pressure ulcers and major falls. We consider these areas to be measures of the quality of nursing care. In some cases, the quality of nursing care is as important as the number of hours of care provided.

The final area we assessed is short-term care. This nursing home was given a C in the area. Our short-term care scores are believed to be more critical for residents requiring rehabilitation services. Rehabilitation usually mandates additional skilled nursing. Skilled nursing means not only nursing services, but also physical and speech therapy, as well as other forms of therapy. In this place's case, we were surprised to learn that it actually provides less physical therapist and registered nurse hours per patient than a typical facility. The hope is that this does not adversely affect the quality of care. The last item we looked at in this area is the percentage of patients who were able to leave the nursing home and return to the community. We discovered that just 4.3 percent of this facility's patients were able to return home, which is below average.