Harmony Hall Nursing and Rehabilitation Center

To pair with its relatively modest overall grade, we awarded this nursing home a grade of A for our inspections rating. This grade is far more impressive than its overall score. Our inspection scores account for several factors found on a facility's inspection reports. One of the most important criteria we look at is the number and severity of deficiencies. Places with higher grades in this area generally have few of these severe deficiencies. This facility received 3 deficiencies on its inspection report, but we were relieved to see that none of the deficiencies were considered to be severe deficiencies. This tells you that the inspectors did not deem any of the deficiencies to cause an immediate threat to patient health or safety. Remember that deficiency-free inspections are uncommon in the industry.

We also gave this nursing home a decent score in the category of nursing care, with a grade of B-. In determining our nursing scores, we look at both staffing levels and the levels of licensure of the nurses. This particular facility provided just 0.3 hours of nursing care per patient on a daily basis. This figure is far below average. Finally, we also looked at several nursing quality measures. Although this nursing home got docked a bit for its nursing hours, it excelled in some of these quality measures. With fewer than five percent of its patients experiencing pressure ulcers, it did well in this statistic. This is typically an indicator of quality nursing care. Pressure ulcers can often be avoided by providing better nursing care, such as having a protocol of turning residents more often.

We also gave this facility a middle of the pack score in the area of long-term care, with a grade of B-. In a long-term care setting, the facility's primary goal is to keep patients as healthy and safe as possible. This is different than skilled nursing or short-term care where the goal is to rehabilitate patients. One of the criteria we considered after nursing hours is vaccines. Candidly, we were a bit concerned this nursing home administered the pneumonia vaccination to only 87.36842 percent of its residents. Fortunately, this nursing home was able to limit hospitalizations. In fact, it had only 0.02 hospitalizations per one thousand long-term resident days, which is an impressively low number.

Our last area is short-term care, where we gave this nursing home a grade of C in that category. Our short-term care ratings are probably most meaningful for patients in need of a nursing home for rehabilitation. Rehabilitation usually utilizes more highly-skilled nursing. This means not just nursing services, but also physical and respiratory therapy, as well as other forms of therapy. Fortunately, it appear that this facility employs registered nurses. Not every nursing home employs these skilled professionals. On the other hand, based on the data this nursing home provided, they do not appear to employ physical therapists. Lastly, we assessed the number of patients who were able to return to the community from this nursing home. We found that 4.8 percent of this facility's residents returned home. At most nursing homes, closer to half of their patients are able to return home so this figure is below average.