Great River Care Center

On top of being a first rate nursing home overall, this nursing home also performed well in the area of inspections, where it received an A+. Few places performed as well in this category. We take several aspects of a facility's inspection report into consideration in calculating our inspection grades. One of those factors is deficiencies. It should be noted that the severity of these deficiencies is arguably more important than the number of deficiencies, as some can be relatively minor. Although this facility had some deficiencies on its government inspection report, none of them were serious based on CMS' scale. Finally, this facility had no substantiated complaints this year from residents, which is an excellent sign.

This facility also was given a strong long-term care grade. In fact, we gave it an above average score of B+ in this category. Nursing homes that receive this type of grade in long-term care typically provide consistent around the clock care to make sure patients are kept in good health. One of the statistics we considered in addition to nursing hours was vaccines. This facility provided the pneumonia vaccine to 100 percent of its residents. This is a proven method to minimize unnecessary deaths for the aged 65 and up population. Lastly, this nursing home was able to limit hospitalizations. It had less than one hospitalization per one thousand long-term resident days, which is a remarkably low number.

This facility also received a favorable short-term care grade. In fact, we awarded it an above average grade of B in this category. In the area of short-term care, we try to assess indicators of a nursing home's rehabilitation. We look at the facility's skilled nursing services, such as those performed by registered nurses and physical therapists. Fortunately, it appear that this nursing home has registered nurses on staff. Not every nursing home employs these types of nurses. On the other hand, according to the data they provided, it does not look like the facility employs physical therapists. The last metric we looked at in this category is the number of residents who were able to leave the nursing home and return home. We discovered that 4.3 percent of this facility's patients were able to return home.

The last area we rated turned out to be this facility's worst category. Nevertheless, even its lowest point would likely be a highlight for most nursing homes. In fact, we awarded it a favorable grade of B for our nursing category. When calculating a facility's nursing rating, we consider the quantity of hours nurses are seeing patients as well as the skill levels of those nurses. This facility provided 0.3 hours of nursing care per resident per day. Lastly, we also factored a few quality measures into our nursing grades. This place was relatively weak in two of the major areas we focus on, with below average scores for minimizing its residents' major falls and pressure ulcers. These areas are generally reliable indicators of the quality of nursing care provided.