Good Samaritan Society - St James

Although we did not rate this nursing home well overall, we want to point out its decent health inspections in recent years. We awarded it a somewhat respectable grade of B- in that category. We would argue that one of the most critical factors in evaluating an inspection report is deficiencies. We especially look at the severity of those deficiencies. While this facility had some minor dings on its report, it had zero severe deficiencies. Severe deficiencies are ones labeled as categories G through L. This tells you that the government inspectors did not consider any of the deficiencies on this facility's report to pose an imminent threat to patient health or safety. Finally, CMS flagged this nursing home for possible abuse or neglect. This is not what you want to see. We advise you to direct your search elsewhere.

We also awarded this facility a grade of B- for our nursing rating. Nursing ratings are largely associated with the facility's nurse staffing. This facility provided just 0.3 hours of nursing care per patient per day. This figure is far below average. Despite having low quantities of nursing care, this nursing home excelled in some of the quality measures we looked at. It performed well when it comes to minimizing its residents' pressure ulcers and major falls. Many consider these areas to be reliable indicators of the quality of nursing care. In some cases, the quality of nursing care is as important as the number of hours of care provided.

This nursing home received its third best category score in the category of short-term care. We gave this nursing home a B- in this category, which is a respectable score. In the category of short-term care, we strive to qualify measures of a facility's rehabilitation. We analyze the facility's skilled nursing services, including those performed by registered nurses and physical, occupational and other therapists. Unfortunately, we found that this facility provided fewer physical therapist and registered nurse hours per resident than most other facilities. The tricky part is determining what effect this had on quality of care. The last metric we assessed in this category is the number of patients who were able to leave the nursing home and return to the community. We discovered that just 3.7 percent of this facility's residents were able to return home, which is actually below average.

Switching gears to the next area, we awarded this nursing home a grade of D for the area of long-term care. This is the facility's weakest category rating. If you are looking for anything other than rehabilitation, you should take a close look at long-term care ratings. In addition to considering the quantity of care provided by nurses and other staff, we also looked at the number of residents vaccinated against pneumonia. This facility gave the vaccine to 97.95918 percent of its patients. To our surprise, this facility was able to limit hospitalizations. With just 0 hospitalizations per 1,000 long-term resident days, this nursing home had less hospitalizations than most nursing homes. Sadly, some of its other scores in the category weren't as favorable as these.