Elkhart Oaks Care Center

While we were not high on this place's overall performance, it actually received an impressive inspection report this year with few dings from the applicable government inspectors. As a result, it received one of our better grades in that category with a B+. Inspection grades weigh several factors, including deficiencies and substantiated complaints. You can find more information about each of these factors by reviewing copies of nursing homes' inspection reports. Surprisingly, this place received a category L deficiency, which is unexpected given its inspection grade. These are the most concerning deficiencies. This category of deficiency means inspectors identified a widespread deficiency placing patient health or safety in immediate danger. Any serious deficiency is a major concern. While other aspects of this nursing home's inspection report were favorable, we have some reservations.

The second best category we gave this facility in any area came in the area of long-term care, where we awarded it a grade of C. For residents seeking a permanent place to live as opposed to skilled nursing, long-term care grades are an important measure. After considering the quantity of care provided by nurses and other staff, we next considered the facility's vaccination records. We were pleased to discover that this facility vaccinated 99.47369 percent of its residents for pneumonia. Finally, this place was also able to limit hospitalizations. It had less than one hospitalization per 1,000 long-term resident days, which is a remarkably low number.

The next category we assessed is short-term care. In that category, we gave this facility a solid grade of C. In computing our short-term care ratings, we analyze a facility's levels of highly skilled nursing, which includes registered nurses, physical therapists respiratory therapists and other highly skilled individuals. This area is more often than not a reliable measure of the nursing home's rehabilitation services. Unfortunately, this facility was below average in terms of its number of physical therapy and registered nurse hours provided to its residents based on the measures we assessed. The critical question is whether this also affected quality of care. Lastly, we assessed the number of residents that ultimately were able to return home from this facility. We found that 0 percent of this facility's patients were able to return home. This figure was well below average.

The next category we analyzed was nursing. This facility received an abysmal grade of F in that area. In determining our nursing ratings, we factor in both the number of hours nurses spend with residents and the training levels of the nurses. This facility offered just 0.4 hours of nursing care per patient per day. This is well below average. Lastly, we also looked at some nursing quality-based metrics in computing our nursing scores. This nursing home fared well in terms of avoiding pressure ulcers and major falls. Many consider these areas to be good indicators of the quality of nursing care.