Good Shepherd Health Center
302 Second Street Ne, Mason City IA 50401 · (641) 424-1740 · 91.23% estimated occupancy 1Updated: Aug 1, 2020 · By Nick Reese
Good Shepherd Health Center is a senior living facility located in Mason City, Iowa. This city has a population of 29,837 people. Sporting an overall grade of B, this facility is a fine choice. Based on our assessment, this nursing home has quite a bit going for it. This facility's strong report card was highlighted by its inspection score, which is addressed in the next paragraph.
Additional Details:
Accepts Medicare 1 :
Accepts Medicaid 1 : 210 Beds
CCRC :
Non profit - Church related
Resident Council:
Family Council:
Medical Staff Hours Per Patient (2019)
Facility Inspections
On top of performing well in its overall grade, this nursing home performed at an even higher level in the area of inspections. In fact, it received a nearly flawless inspection report this year. As a result, it received one of our highest grades in that category with a score of A+. We weigh several aspects of a nursing home's inspection report in computing these inspection scores. One of those factors is health deficiencies. You should keep in mind that the severity of deficiencies is usually more meaningful than the quantity of deficiencies, as some can be relatively insignificant. This place was hit with 7 deficiencies on its inspection report, but none were considered to be major deficiencies. This indicates that the government inspectors didn't deem any of these deficiencies to pose an immediate risk to patient safety or health. A couple minor dings aren't the end of the world.
Nurse Quality
This nursing home also received a strong nursing score. In fact, we awarded it an above average grade of B+ in this area. Nursing grades are mostly associated with a nursing home's nurse staffing. This particular nursing home provided 3.7 hours of nursing care per resident per day. Finally, we also assessed some nursing quality measures in determining our nursing grades. This facility performed very well in terms of avoiding pressure ulcers and major falls. We consider these areas to be good indicators of the quality of nursing care.
Long-term Care Quality
This facility is also above average in the area of long-term care, where it was given a score of B. It performed better than most nursing homes in this category. Facilities that excel in this category tend to be well-staffed and offer extensive hands on care to residents. On top of looking at the amount of care provided by nurses and other staff, we analyzed the number of residents vaccinated against pneumonia. This facility gave the vaccine to 99.294785 percent of its residents, which is significantly higher than the majority of nursing homes. This nursing home was also able to keep its patients out of the hospital. It had only 1.02 hospitalizations per one thousand long-term resident days, which is a significantly lower hospitalization rate than the average nursing home.
Short-term Care Quality
The final category we looked at was short-term care, proved to be this nursing home's worst area. We awarded this facility a grade of D in that area. This really was one of just a few weak links on an otherwise impressive profile. Short-term care scores are crucial for individuals needing rehabilitation. Rehabilitation usually mandates additional highly-skilled nursing. Skilled nursing includes a wide range of nursing services, spanning from registered nurses to physical and speech therapists, as well as other forms of therapy. It looks like this nursing home was below average in many staffing metrics we focus on. In fact, it supplied fewer registered nurse and physical therapist hours per patient than most facilities. The final measure we considered in this area is the percentage of residents who were able to return home from the facility. This facility struggled quite a bit in this area as well, with just 28.3 percent of its residents returning home.
Overall Rating Over Time
Compared to national and state averages across all facilities.
Good Shepherd Health Center Quality Metrics
Minimizes Pressure Ulcers
This tells you the percentage of long-term residents who suffer from new or worsened pressure ulcers or bed sores. We factor in this statistic in computing both nursing and long-term care grades.
Percent of Patients with Pressure Ulcers
Lower is Better
Minimizes Serious Falls
This datapoint indicates the percentage of long-term patients that suffered a fall leading to severe injury. This is one of the statistics we use in computing our nursing ratings.
Percent of Patients with Serious Falls
Lower is Better
Minimizes Urinary Tract Infections
This tells you the percentage of long-term stay residents who suffered from urinary tract infections. UTI's may be an indication of a facility with lower levels of hygiene. Nevertheless, this statistic could also be skewed for certain facilities due to different reporting standards for UTI's.
Percent of Patients with UTIs
Lower is Better
Appropriately Uses Anti-Psychotic Medication
This indicates the percent of patients who were given antipsychotic medications. Antipsychotic medications are prescribed to patients for a variety of conditions, such as cognitive disorders. Tragically, in some situations, increased usage of these drugs may suggest a nursing home is using these medications to subdue residents.
Percent of Patients
Lower is Better
Appropriately Uses Anti-Anxiety Medication
This is the percent of patients prescribed antianxiety drugs. These drugs are used to treat residents experiencing depression and anxiety.
Percent of Patients
Lower is Better
Managing Depression Among Residents
This metric is a measure of the percentage of long-term care patients who are showing signs of depression. Some would argue this is a reliable measure of patient quality of life.
Percent of Patients
Lower is Better
Appropriate Vaccine Usage
This is a measure of the percent of long-term stay residents who were administered the flu and pneumonia vaccines. Respiratory viruses can be fatal for nursing home residents, making these vaccines critical to patient health.
Percent of Patients
Higher is Better
Residents Maintain Autonomy
This tells you the percent of patients who required additional assistance with activities of daily living over time.
Percentage of Patients
Lower is Better
Ability to Keep Residents Mobile
This metric tracks the percent of long-term care residents that retained mobility levels.
Percentage of Residents
Higher is Better
Hospitalizations
This datapoint is a measure of the number of times residents are hospitalized per thousand days of patient care. Avoiding hospitalizations is key to the physical well-being of nursing home patients.
Hospitalizations per 1,000 resident days
Lower is Better
Short-term Care: Rehospitalizations
This metric tracks the number of rehospitalizations per 1,000 days of short-term care. Avoiding the hospital during rehabilitation is critical to restoring the physical abilities of patients.
Percentage of Residents Rehospitalized
Lower is Better
Short-term Care: ER Visits
This metric measures the number of times residents are sent to the emergency room per thousand days of short-term patient care. Avoiding emergency medical situations is one way to gauge the well-being of patients during rehabilitation.
Percentage of Patients
Lower is Better
Short-term Care: Facilitates Functional Improvement
This metric is a measure of the percent of short-term stay patients that experienced functional improvements, such as with activities of daily living. Some experts would argue that this is a reliable measure of rehabilitation services.
Percentage of Resident
Higher is Better