Excel Care Center

This facility's long-term care score outpaced its overall grade. We awarded it a grade of B for its long-term care score. When facilities receive this kind of score in this category it is typically a good sign for patient care and indicates that the facility is well-staffed with nurses and aids. On top of assessing the amount of care provided by nurses aids and other staff, we also looked at the number of residents vaccinated for pneumonia. This nursing home vaccinated 100 percent of its patients, which is much higher than most nursing homes. Finally, this nursing home was able to limit hospitalizations. It had less than one hospitalization per one thousand long-term resident days, which is a remarkably low figure.

We also gave this nursing home a favorable grade in short-term care. This facility received a grade of B in this area, which is one of our higher scores. Our short-term care scores are presumably more important for folks requiring rehabilitation from their nursing home. Rehabilitation usually utilizes higher levels of skilled nursing services. Skilled nursing includes not only nursing services, but also physical and speech therapy, as well as other forms of therapy. Unfortunately, it does not appear that this nursing home submitted registered nurse or physical therapist staffing data. Lastly, we looked at the percentage of residents who ultimately returned home from this nursing home. We found that 5.7 percent of this nursing home's patients were able to return home.

This facility's inspection score also was quite a bit better than its overall grade. Due to a strong inspection report this year, it received one of our better scores in that category with a grade of B. Arguably the most important factor we consider in computing our inspection grades is deficiencies. Deficiencies can be found on a nursing home's recent inspection reports. Facilities with better scores in this area most likely dodged the most severe deficiencies involving health risks or even death. This facility was hit with 9 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 CMS did not deem any of these deficiencies to be an immediate risk to patient health or safety. A few minor dings are not necessarily the end of the world.

Turning to our next category, this facility was given a grade of C for nursing, which we consider to be a respectable score. Our nursing category weighs several subcategories, many of which are tied to nursing hours. This place averages just 0.4 hours of nursing care per resident on a daily basis, which is well below average. Despite having low quantities of nursing care, this place excelled in some of the quality measures we assessed. In fact, it scored well in terms of avoiding major falls and pressure ulcers. We consider these areas to be indicators of the quality of nursing care. In some cases, the quality of nursing care is every bit as important as the number of hours of care provided.