Etowah Health Care Center
409 Grady Road, PO Box 957, Etowah TN 37331 · (423) 263-1138 · 64% estimated occupancy 1Updated: Aug 1, 2020 · By Nick Lata
With an address in Etowah, Tennessee, Etowah Health Care Center is one of just two nursing homes in the area. We awarded this nursing home an overall grade of B-. A grade in this range requires some respectable marks. Based on our ratings, there are definitely far worse nursing homes out there. The best part of this facility's profile is its exemplary inspection score. We discuss inspections in the next section.
Additional Details:
Accepts Medicare 1 :
Accepts Medicaid 1 : 120 Beds
CCRC :
For profit - Corporation
Resident Council:
Family Council:
Medical Staff Hours Per Patient (2019)
Facility Inspections
We want to draw your attention to the fact that this nursing home outperformed its overall score in the area of inspections. In fact, it received a nearly flawless inspection report this year. As a result, it received one of our best scores in that area with an A+. Our inspection ratings account for several factors included in a nursing home's inspection reports. One of the most important criteria we look at is the quantity and severity of deficiencies. Places with higher scores in this category tend to have very few of these severe deficiencies. This place was hit with 7 deficiencies on its inspection report, but we were relieved to see that none of the deficiencies were considered to be severe. This tells you that the government inspectors didn't consider any of these deficiencies to create an imminent threat to resident health or safety. Keep in mind that deficiency-free inspections are rare in this industry.
Nurse Quality
We also wanted to note that this nursing home earned an B in our nursing category. Our nursing score is mostly based on the facility's level of nurse staffing. This nursing home averages 3.1 hours of nursing care per resident per day. Finally, we also assessed several nursing quality-based metrics and this place excelled in some of these areas. With less than five percent of its residents sustaining pressure ulcers, it performed as well as any facility the nation in this category. This is generally a good indicator of quality nursing care. Pressure ulcers can many times be avoided by offering better nursing care, such as having a protocol of moving residents at least once a day.
Short-term Care Quality
In addition, we awarded this facility a grade of B in our short-term care category. This is one of our more favorable grades. In the category of short-term care, we try to evaluate indicators of a facility's rehabilitation services. We look at a nursing home's skilled nursing services, such as the ones performed by registered nurses and physical, occupational and other therapists. Fortunately, this nursing home offers both physical therapists and registered nurses. Not all facilities offer both. The final measure we looked at in this area is the number of patients who ultimately returned home from the facility. We found that it performed better than most facilities in this area with 50.4 percent of its patients returning home. With most facilities, fewer than half of their short-term patients ever return home.
Long-term Care Quality
The final area we looked at was long-term care, which was this facility's least impressive area. We awarded this facility a D in that area. Unfortunately, this category pulled down the nursing home's overall profile to some degree. Nursing homes that do not fare well in long-term care often do not provide as much nursing care and also may be lagging in a few of the areas of routine medical care we assessed. Once we assessed the amount of care provided by nurses, we turned to the nursing home's vaccination record. Frankly, we were a bit concerned this facility vaccinated just 80.128204 percent of its residents for pneumonia. Surprisingly, this nursing home actually fared well at keeping its patients out of the hospital. It had just 0.57 hospitalizations per 1,000 long-term resident days. This is its best feature in this category.
Overall Rating Over Time
Compared to national and state averages across all facilities.
Etowah Health Care Center Quality Metrics
Minimizes Pressure Ulcers
This tells you the percent of residents that sustained a pressure ulcer. Pressure ulcers are considered by many experts to be a barometer of nursing care at a nursing home. Pressure ulcers, which are also referred to as bed sores, are routinely the result of residents staying in one position for too long.
Percent of Patients with Pressure Ulcers
Lower is Better
Minimizes Serious Falls
This is the percent of patients that suffered from a major fall. Falls resulting in major injuries are considered to be a measure of nursing care at a nursing home. Major falls leading to injury are routinely the result of lower levels of patient supervision.
Percent of Patients with Serious Falls
Lower is Better
Minimizes Urinary Tract Infections
This indicates the percentage of residents who have had a urinary tract infection. UTI's are often the result of lower quality nursing care. Better hygiene protocols can minimize the number of UTI's sustained by residents in a nursing home. We want to point out that this statistic is affected by by the fact that facilities have varying reporting standards for infections.
Percent of Patients with UTIs
Lower is Better
Appropriately Uses Anti-Psychotic Medication
This statistic tells you the percent of long-term residents which are administered antipsychotic medication. Increased usage of these drugs may suggest that a nursing home is using these medications to control patient behavior in scenarios where such drugs are not medically required. Nevertheless, some nursing homes may need to rely on these drugs due to an increased number of patients suffering from dementia.
Percent of Patients
Lower is Better
Appropriately Uses Anti-Anxiety Medication
This tells you the percentage of residents who were given antianxiety drugs. Antianxiety drugs are prescribed to residents experiencing depression and anxiety.
Percent of Patients
Lower is Better
Managing Depression Among Residents
Measures the percentage of long-term stay patients demonstrating depressive symptoms.
Percent of Patients
Lower is Better
Appropriate Vaccine Usage
This tells you the percentage of residents that were given the flu and pneumonia vaccines. High vaccination rates should be demanded by residents.
Percent of Patients
Higher is Better
Residents Maintain Autonomy
This tells you the percent of patients who required more assistance with activities of daily living over time. High levels of needing for assistance with activities of daily living could be a sign of the deterioration of a patient's well-being.
Percentage of Patients
Lower is Better
Ability to Keep Residents Mobile
This is the percent of residents that retained mobility levels over time. Preserving mobility is usually a good sign for residents' well-being.
Percentage of Residents
Higher is Better
Hospitalizations
This metric is a measure of the number of times residents are hospitalized per 1,000 days of patient care. Avoiding hospitalizations is key to preserving the physical well-being of nursing home residents.
Hospitalizations per 1,000 resident days
Lower is Better
Short-term Care: Rehospitalizations
This tells you the number of rehospitalizations per 1,000 days of short-term care.
Percentage of Residents Rehospitalized
Lower is Better
Short-term Care: ER Visits
This is the number of emergency room visits per thousand days of short-term care.
Percentage of Patients
Lower is Better
Short-term Care: Facilitates Functional Improvement
This tells you the percent of short-term care patients that experienced functional improvements, such as with activities of daily living.
Percentage of Resident
Higher is Better