Graham Oaks Care Center

To pair with its relatively modest overall score, we awarded this facility a grade of A for its inspection grade. This grade is far more impressive than the facility's overall grade. Perhaps the most critical factor we consider in computing our inspection scores is deficiencies. Deficiencies can be found on a facility's recent inspection reports. Places with higher grades in this category most likely dodged the most severe deficiencies involving patient abuse or death. This facility was hit with 5 deficiencies on its inspection report, but we were relieved to see that none were considered to be severe deficiencies. This tells you that the government inspectors didn't deem any of the deficiencies to be an imminent threat to patient health or safety. A couple minor deficiencies should not stop you from considering a nursing home.

One of the other reasons we graded this facility so highly is that it earned a very impressive nursing score. Nursing turned out to be its second best category grade. In that category, we awarded this nursing home an B-. Nursing ratings are tied to nurse staffing levels. This nursing home provided just 0.2 hours of nursing care per patient per day. This figure is far below the national average. Lastly, we also looked at several nursing quality measures. Although this facility got docked a bit for nursing hours, it actually excelled in a few of these quality metrics. With less than five percent of its residents suffering from pressure ulcers, it performed remarkably well in this metric. This can be an indicator of quality nursing care. Pressure ulcers can generally be avoided by providing better nursing care, such as having a policy of turning a patient at least once a day.

The third best category we awarded this nursing home in any category came in the category of long-term care, where we awarded it a grade of C. For prospective residents seeking a permanent residence rather than skilled nursing, long-term care grades are an important measure. Once we concluded our assessment of the volume of care provided by nurses, we turned to the facility's vaccination record. We were pleased to discover that this nursing home vaccinates 96.38554 percent of its residents against pneumonia. Finally, this place was also able to limit hospitalizations. Indeed, it had less than one hospitalization per one thousand long-term resident days, which is a remarkably low figure.

The final category we rated is short-term care, which ended up being this facility's weakest category. We gave it a lowly F for this area, which is clearly a major disappointment. Our short-term care grade is typically employed to measure a facility's performance with rehabilitation. To have good rehabilitation services, facilities generally must have higher levels of skilled nursing services. Skilled nursing includes registered nurses, physical therapists, speech therapists and other licensed professionals. With its abysmal grade in this category, we were not shocked to find that this nursing home offered far fewer physical therapist and registered nurse hours per resident than most nursing homes. Lastly, we assessed the number of patients who ultimately were able to return home from this facility. This facility didn't fare well here either. In fact, we found that just 3.6 percent of this facility's residents were able to return home. This figure was well off the national average.