Heartwood Extended Healthcare
1649 East 72nd, Tacoma WA 98404 · (253) 472-9027 · 72.5% estimated occupancy 1Updated: Aug 1, 2020 · By Sara Levinsohn
Heartwood Extended Healthcare is an average-sized nursing home located in Tacoma, Washington. This facility is a relatively poor facility. A score in this range suggests we found some red flags. If you aren't happy with this facility's overall grade, you should be able to find a better option in Tacoma. The city has at least 10 other nursing homes. We would not blame you if you are ready to stop reading and find another facility. However, if you want to learn more about this facility's category grades, we will discuss long-term care in the next paragraph.
Additional Details:
Accepts Medicare 1 :
Accepts Medicaid 1 : 120 Beds
CCRC :
For profit - Partnership
Resident Council:
Family Council:
Medical Staff Hours Per Patient (2019)
Long-term Care Quality
Although this facility's overall grade was not a highlight, it actually received a very good grade in long-term care. We gave it a B for that area, which is one of our better scores. Nursing homes that receive this type of score in long-term care typically provide consistent around the clock care to ensure residents are well cared for. Once we concluded our assessment of the quantity of care provided by nurses, we then looked at the facility's vaccination record. This facility vaccinated 99.05363 percent of its residents for pneumonia, which is an impressive figure. Pneumonia sadly is often a dangerous health condition for nursing home residents so we like it when a facility doesn't leave its residents vulnerable. This facility was also able to keep its patients out of the hospital. It had only 1.45 hospitalizations per one thousand long-term resident days.
Short-term Care Quality
This nursing home's second most favorable area was short-term care. We awarded it a grade of B- in this area. This is basically a slightly below average score in this area. Our short-term care grades are critical for residents needing rehabilitation. Rehabilitation typically requires more highly-skilled nursing services. This means a broad scope of nursing services, ranging from registered nurses to physical and respiratory therapists, as well as other forms of therapy. In this place'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 final metric we assessed in this area is the number of residents who were able to leave the facility and return to the community. This was more of a strength than its staffing data. This place fared well in this metric with 56.2 percent of its patients returning home. This was a boost to its grade in this category.
Nurse Quality
We awarded this facility a respectable grade in the area of nursing as well, with a grade of C. Our nursing grade analyzes the facility's nurse staffing levels. We look at both the levels of training of the nurses as well as the number of hours spent with patients. This facility provides 4.8 hours of nursing care per patient per day. This is better than average. In computing our nursing ratings, we add additional weight to hours performed by more highly skilled nurses such as registered or licensed nurses. Lastly, our nursing grades also factor in some quality-focused statistics. Specifically, we look at the percent of residents who sustained pressure ulcers and major falls. We look at these datapoints as reliable measures of the quality of nursing care, since better care tends to reduce these problems.
Facility Inspections
Turning the last category of inspections, this ended up being this nursing home's weakest link. Inspection grades are based on a facility's recent inspections. We gave this nursing home just a D in this category, which is a very poor grade. One of the most critical factors in evaluating inspection reports is deficiencies. We recommend you pay close attention to the level of severity of those deficiencies. This facility was hit with 6 deficiencies by government inspectors. The only favorable thing we found is that none of these deficiencies were in the categories that suggest they created a threat to patient safety or health. Finally, this facility also received a substantiated complaint in the last few years. There seem to be no shortage of reasons to pass on this facility.
Overall Rating Over Time
Compared to national and state averages across all facilities.
Heartwood Extended Healthcare Quality Metrics
Minimizes Pressure Ulcers
This tells you the percentage of patients who have had a pressure ulcer. Pressure ulcers, which are also called bed sores, are often caused by patients staying in one position for too long. Better nursing protocols can limit the percentage of residents in a nursing home who sustain pressure ulcers.
Percent of Patients with Pressure Ulcers
Lower is Better
Minimizes Serious Falls
This statistic tells you the percentage of long-term patients which suffered a fall resulting in severe injury. Falls can arise for a variety of reasons, but excessive numbers of falls could be a sign of lower levels of patient supervision.
Percent of Patients with Serious Falls
Lower is Better
Minimizes Urinary Tract Infections
This statistic is an indication of the percentage of long-term stay residents who have experienced UTI's. While more of these infections could reflect poorly on a facility's hygiene protocols, it can be difficult to compare different facilities due to varying reporting standards.
Percent of Patients with UTIs
Lower is Better
Appropriately Uses Anti-Psychotic Medication
This figure gauges the percentage of long-term stay residents taking antipsychotic drugs. While antipsychotic medications play an important role in caring for many residents, it is important to make sure these drugs are being used only where medically required. In limited cases, excessive reliance on these medications may indicate a nursing home is using these medications to subdue residents.
Percent of Patients
Lower is Better
Appropriately Uses Anti-Anxiety Medication
This indicates the percentage of patients given antianxiety drugs. Antianxiety drugs are given to patients suffering from anxiety or depression.
Percent of Patients
Lower is Better
Managing Depression Among Residents
This indicates the percent of patients showing depressive symptoms. Higher levels of depression may be an indicator lower quality care.
Percent of Patients
Lower is Better
Appropriate Vaccine Usage
This is the percentage of patients that received the pneumonia and flu vaccines. High vaccination rates should be standard at this point.
Percent of Patients
Higher is Better
Residents Maintain Autonomy
This datapoint measures the percent of long-term stay residents who needed additional assistance with activities of daily living over time. ADL's include activities such as getting dressed and using the bathroom. Some would argue that this is a reasonable measure of a resident's well-being.
Percentage of Patients
Lower is Better
Ability to Keep Residents Mobile
This is the percent of residents that were able to retain mobility over time. Optimizing mobility can be a great sign for residents' well-being.
Percentage of Residents
Higher is Better
Hospitalizations
This indicates the number of hospitalizations per 1,000 days of care.
Hospitalizations per 1,000 resident days
Lower is Better
Short-term Care: Rehospitalizations
This is a measure of the number of times residents are rehospitalized per thousand days of short-term care.
Percentage of Residents Rehospitalized
Lower is Better
Short-term Care: ER Visits
This tells you the number of times residents are sent to the emergency room per thousand days of short-term patient care. There is a correlation between keeping patients out of the emergency room and the overall quality of rehabilitation.
Percentage of Patients
Lower is Better
Short-term Care: Facilitates Functional Improvement
This metric is a measure of the percentage of short-term patients that experienced functional improvements, such as with activities of daily living. Some experts believe that this is a reliable measure of a nursing home's rehabilitation performance.
Percentage of Resident
Higher is Better