Hawthorne Health and Rehab of Sarasota

We also found that this facility excelled in our long-term care rating. We awarded them an impressive grade of A+ in this category. Nursing homes that receive this kind of grade in long-term care typically provide consistent around the clock care to make sure residents are kept in good health. In addition to looking at the volume of care provided by nurses and other staff, we analyzed the number of residents vaccinated against pneumonia. This facility gave the vaccine to 100 percent of its residents, which is very impressive. Pneumonia sadly is often a life threatening ailment for nursing home patients so we strongly prefer when a facility doesn't leave this to chance. Finally, this nursing home was able to limit hospitalizations. Indeed, it had less than one hospitalization per 1,000 long-term resident days, which is a remarkably low figure.

Adding to its impressive category grades, this nursing home also excelled in the area of inspections, where it earned an A. Few nursing homes performed better in this area. Inspection ratings account for a host of factors included in a facility's inspection report. One of the most important criteria we consider is the number and severity of deficiencies. Nursing homes with better scores in this area typically have few severe deficiencies. This particular nursing home received 4 deficiencies on its inspection report. Finally, this facility had no substantiated complaints this year from residents, which is an excellent sign.

Moving on our third category, this nursing home was given a strong short-term care score. In fact, we awarded it a score of A in that category. Our short-term care grades are arguably more critical for people requiring rehabilitation services. Rehabilitation typically requires more highly-skilled nursing services. Skilled nursing means not just nursing services, but also physical and speech therapy, as well as other types of therapy. Fortunately, it appear that this facility employs registered nurses. Not every facility employs these skilled professionals. On the other hand, according to the information this nursing home provided, they do not appear to employ physical therapists. The final measure we considered in this area is the percentage of patients who were able to leave the facility and return home. We discovered that 6.2 percent of this facility's residents returned home.

In the last area, we gave this facility a A for our nursing score. This completed a very strong report card. Our nursing grade consists of several factors, most of which are tied to quantities of nurse staffing. This nursing home averages 0.4 hours of nursing care per resident per day. Finally, our nursing grades also factor in quality-based assessments, such as avoiding major falls. This facility performed well in this area. Avoiding major falls is typically a good indicator that a nursing home has reliable quality controls in place. Major falls can frequently be prevented if more nurses aids and better safety protocols are in place.