Good Samaritan Society - Westbrook

While we were not high on this facility overall, we awarded it a B- for inspections. This grade is more respectable than this facility's overall score. Our inspection grades weigh a host of factors included in a facility's inspection reports. One of the most important criteria we consider is the quantity and severity of deficiencies. This particular nursing home received 4 deficiencies on its inspection report. Another red flag is that CMS cited this nursing home for possible abuse or neglect. Hopefully, its performance improves in the future, but until then we simply can't recommend this facility.

This nursing home actually received a decent grade in the area of nursing as well. We awarded it a grade of B- for that category, which is not a bad score. Our nursing score is largely associated with a facility's nurse staffing. This particular facility provided just 0.3 hours of nursing care per patient each day. This figure is far below the national average. Lastly, our nursing grades also consider quality-based metrics, such as preventing major falls. Despite not having the highest total nursing hours, this facility actually performed admirably in the area of preventing major falls. This is typically a reliable indicator that a place has quality controls in place. Many falls can be avoided if a nursing home supplies enough nurses to assist its residents.

This facility was given its next highest category grade in the area of short-term care. We gave this facility a grade of B- in this area, which is a respectable grade. In the area of short-term care, we endeavor to assess measures of a facility's rehabilitation services. We analyze the facility's skilled nursing services, such as those performed by registered nurses and physical therapists. We found that this facility was below average in the two key staffing areas we focus on. In fact, it offered fewer registered nurse and physical therapist hours per resident than most other facilities. It is still important to determine whether this also correlates to a lower quality of care. The final statistic we assessed in this category is the percentage of residents who returned home from the nursing home. We found that just 0 percent of this nursing home's patients returned home.

Our last category is long-term care, where we awarded this nursing home a grade of B- in that area. In calculating our long-term care ratings, we look at the facility's personal care services. In addition to considering the amount of care provided by nurses aids and other staff, we looked at the percentage of residents vaccinated against pneumonia. This facility vaccinated 96 percent of its patients. Finally, this place was also able to limit hospitalizations. Indeed, it had less than one hospitalization per 1,000 long-term resident days, which is a remarkably low figure.