Good Samaritan Society - Algona
412 West Kennedy Street, Algona IA 50511 · (515) 295-2414 · 81.44% estimated occupancy 1Updated: Aug 1, 2020 · By Nick Lata
Good Samaritan Society - Algona is an average-sized non-profit nursing home located in Algona, Iowa. This facility was awarded an A- overall, which is among the top scores that we offer. A grade of this caliber requires superb scores across the board. We can not find many bad things to say about this facility. Its scores are as good as they get. This nursing home's strong report card was highlighted by its long-term care rating, which you can find in the next section.
Additional Details:
Accepts Medicare 1 :
Accepts Medicaid 1 : 90 Beds
CCRC :
Non profit - Corporation
Resident Council:
Family Council:
Medical Staff Hours Per Patient (2019)
Long-term Care Quality
We also found that this facility excelled in our long-term care rating. We awarded them an impressive grade of A+ in this area. Nursing homes that do well in long-term care typically are well-staffed and offer extensive hands on care to residents. On top of looking at the amount of care provided by aids and other staff, we looked at the number of residents vaccinated for pneumonia. This facility vaccinated 99.64029 percent of its patients, which is far higher than the majority of nursing homes. Finally, this place was able to limit hospitalizations. With only 1.6 hospitalizations per one thousand long-term resident days, this nursing home has fewer hospitalizations than the average nursing home.
Facility Inspections
This nursing home has earned near flawless inspections in recent years. We awarded them an impressive grade of A in this area. Our inspection grades weigh several factors found on a nursing home's inspection report. One key criteria we look at is the quantity and severity of deficiencies. Places with better grades in this category typically have very few of these severe deficiencies. This facility received 5 deficiencies on its inspection report, but we were relieved to see that none were considered severe. This indicates that the government inspectors didn't deem any of the deficiencies to be an imminent threat to patient health or safety. Finally, this facility had no substantiated complaints this year from residents, which is an excellent sign.
Nurse Quality
Among its many impressive grades, this facility received an excellent nursing grade. In fact, we gave it a grade of A- in that category. Nursing scores are tied to quantity of nursing care available. This nursing home provides 3.5 hours of nursing care per resident per day. Lastly, we also looked at certain nursing quality-based metrics in computing our nursing grades. These include minimizing residents' pressure ulcers and major falls. We view these datapoints as good indicators of the quality of nursing care being provided, since better care tends to reduce these problems.
Short-term Care Quality
The next area we analyzed is short-term care, in which this facility received a grade of B-. Although this proved to be its weakest category score, this is still a middle of the pack score. Short-term care grades are commonly used to measure a facility's rehabilitation services. To provide highly rated rehabilitation services, nursing homes generally must provide higher levels of skilled nursing. These types of services include registered nurses, physical therapists, occupational therapists and other licensed professionals. This nursing home employs both physical therapists and registered nurses. Not all facilities employ these skilled professionals. The final metric we assessed in this area is the number of patients who who were able to eventually return home from the facility. We found that just 33.5 percent of this facility's residents returned home.
Overall Rating Over Time
Compared to national and state averages across all facilities.
Good Samaritan Society - Algona Quality Metrics
Minimizes Pressure Ulcers
This tells you the percentage of patients who have had a pressure ulcer. Pressure ulcers, which are also called bed sores, are often caused by patients staying in one position for too long. Better nursing protocols can limit the percentage of residents in a nursing home who sustain pressure ulcers.
Percent of Patients with Pressure Ulcers
Lower is Better
Minimizes Serious Falls
This statistic tells you the percentage of long-term patients which suffered a fall resulting in severe injury. Falls can arise for a variety of reasons, but excessive numbers of falls could be a sign of lower levels of patient supervision.
Percent of Patients with Serious Falls
Lower is Better
Minimizes Urinary Tract Infections
This statistic is an indication of the percentage of long-term stay residents who have experienced UTI's. While more of these infections could reflect poorly on a facility's hygiene protocols, it can be difficult to compare different facilities due to varying reporting standards.
Percent of Patients with UTIs
Lower is Better
Appropriately Uses Anti-Psychotic Medication
This figure gauges the percentage of long-term stay residents taking antipsychotic drugs. While antipsychotic medications play an important role in caring for many residents, it is important to make sure these drugs are being used only where medically required. In limited cases, excessive reliance on these medications may indicate a nursing home is using these medications to subdue residents.
Percent of Patients
Lower is Better
Appropriately Uses Anti-Anxiety Medication
This indicates the percentage of patients given antianxiety drugs. Antianxiety drugs are given to patients suffering from anxiety or depression.
Percent of Patients
Lower is Better
Managing Depression Among Residents
This indicates the percent of patients showing depressive symptoms. Higher levels of depression may be an indicator lower quality care.
Percent of Patients
Lower is Better
Appropriate Vaccine Usage
This is the percentage of patients that received the pneumonia and flu vaccines. High vaccination rates should be standard at this point.
Percent of Patients
Higher is Better
Residents Maintain Autonomy
This datapoint measures the percent of long-term stay residents who needed additional assistance with activities of daily living over time. ADL's include activities such as getting dressed and using the bathroom. Some would argue that this is a reasonable measure of a resident's well-being.
Percentage of Patients
Lower is Better
Ability to Keep Residents Mobile
This is the percent of residents that were able to retain mobility over time. Optimizing mobility can be a great sign for residents' well-being.
Percentage of Residents
Higher is Better
Hospitalizations
This indicates the number of hospitalizations per 1,000 days of care.
Hospitalizations per 1,000 resident days
Lower is Better
Short-term Care: Rehospitalizations
This is a measure of the number of times residents are rehospitalized per thousand days of short-term care.
Percentage of Residents Rehospitalized
Lower is Better
Short-term Care: ER Visits
This tells you the number of times residents are sent to the emergency room per thousand days of short-term patient care. There is a correlation between keeping patients out of the emergency room and the overall quality of rehabilitation.
Percentage of Patients
Lower is Better
Short-term Care: Facilitates Functional Improvement
This metric is a measure of the percentage of short-term patients that experienced functional improvements, such as with activities of daily living. Some experts believe that this is a reliable measure of a nursing home's rehabilitation performance.
Percentage of Resident
Higher is Better