Grace Hill Nursing Center

Although this nursing home's overall grade is not a highlight, it actually received a somewhat respectable grade in the category of inspections. We awarded it a B- for that area, which is a decent score. Inspection grades take several factors into consideration, including deficiencies, substantiated complaints and federal fines. You can find more information about each of these issues by reviewing copies of nursing homes' inspection reports. Although this facility had some deficiencies on its government inspection report, none of them were serious based on CMS' deficiency scale. Finally, this facility was cited by CMS for possible abuse or neglect. We would not recommend this facility under any circumstance.

We awarded this facility a respectable grade in the area of nursing as well, with a grade of B-. Nursing grades are mostly associated with the nursing home's level of nurse staffing. This facility provided just 0.3 hours of nursing care per resident per day. This is a relatively low total compared to most other facilities. Finally, while this place got docked a bit for its nursing hours, it excelled in some of our quality metrics. With fewer than five percent of its residents experiencing pressure ulcers, it fared remarkably well in this metric.

This facility's third most favorable area ended up being its short-term care score, where it received a B-. In the area of short-term care, we endeavor to qualify measures of a nursing home's rehabilitation services. We analyze the nursing home's skilled nursing services, including those performed by registered nurses and physical, occupational and other therapists. In this nursing home's case, we were surprised to learn that it actually provides less physical therapist and registered nurse hours per patient than the average facility. The hope is always that this does not adversely affect the quality of care. The final metric we considered in this area is the number of residents that ultimately were able to return home from the nursing home. We found that just 0 percent of this facility's residents returned home. Unfortunately, this was below average.

The final category we graded was long-term care. We gave this facility a B- in that area. For long-term care residents, the nursing home's primary goal is to keep patients healthy and safe. This is different than skilled nursing or short-term care where the goal is to rehabilitate residents. After looking at the quantity of care provided by nurses aids and other staff, we then analyzed the facility's vaccination records. This facility vaccinated 100 percent of its patients against pneumonia, which is better than the majority of nursing homes. Lastly, this place was also able to limit hospitalizations. Indeed, it had only 0.03 hospitalizations per one thousand long-term resident days, which is an impressively low figure.