Emerald Trace

One of the many reasons this turned out to be a quality nursing home is that it received an A+ inspection grade. This is simply as good as it gets in this critical category. We weigh several aspects of a nursing home's inspection report in computing our inspection grades. One of those factors is deficiencies. It should be noted that the severity of the deficiencies is arguably more important than the number of deficiencies, as some are quite insignificant. This facility received 2 deficiencies on its inspection report, but we were relieved to see that none were considered to be severe. This tells you that CMS did not deem any of the deficiencies to create an imminent risk to resident health or safety. Finally, this facility had no substantiated complaints this year from residents, which is an excellent sign.

This exemplary facility also was superb in the area of long-term care, where we awarded it a grade of A+. Few nursing homes fared better in this category. When facilities receive this kind of score in long-term care it is typically a good sign for patient care and indicates that the place is well-staffed with nurses aids. One of the criteria we considered after nursing hours is vaccines. This facility administered the pneumonia vaccination to 100 percent of its residents. Vaccination is a great way to minimize negative health outcomes for the elderly population. Finally, this facility was able to limit hospitalizations. Indeed, it had only 0.02 hospitalizations per one thousand long-term resident days, which is an impressively low number.

Adding to its strong resume, this facility also received an excellent nursing score, with a grade of A-. Nursing scores are tied to levels of nurse staffing. This facility provided 0.6 hours of nursing care per resident per day. Finally, our nursing grades also factor in quality-based assessments, such as avoiding major falls. This facility performed well in this area. Avoiding major falls is typically a good indicator that a place has reliable quality controls in place. Major falls can generally be avoided if more nurses aids and better safety protocols are in place.

The fourth category we scored is short-term care, where this facility was given a grade of B+. This wrapped up an elite report card. Very few facilities earned a B+ or higher in every category. In the category of short-term care, we try to assess indicators of a nursing home's rehabilitation. We look at the facility's skilled nursing services, including those performed by registered nurses and various therapists. Fortunately, it looks like this facility employs registered nurses. Not every facility employs these types of nurses. However, based on the information they provided, it does not look like the facility employs physical therapists. The last statistic we assessed in this category is the number of residents that were able to return home from the facility. We found that 4.8 percent of this nursing home's patients returned home as opposed to remaining at the nursing home on a permanent basis.