Helmwood Healthcare Center
106 Diecks Drive, Elizabethtown KY 42701 · (270) 737-2738 · 96.33% estimated occupancy 1Updated: Aug 1, 2020 · By Sara Levinsohn
With an address in Elizabethtown, Kentucky, Helmwood Healthcare Center is one of five available facilities there. This turns out to be a very respectable facility, with an overall grade of B. This grade is right in line with the city grade in Elizabethtown. This nursing home's strong report card was highlighted by its inspection reports, which we will address in the next section.
Additional Details:
Accepts Medicare 1 :
Accepts Medicaid 1 : 60 Beds
CCRC :
Non profit - Corporation
Resident Council:
Family Council:
Medical Staff Hours Per Patient (2019)
Facility Inspections
On top of being a quality facility overall, this nursing home especially excelled in our inspections category, where it earned a grade of A. Few nursing homes performed better in that area. We take several aspects of a facility's inspection report into consideration in computing these inspection grades. One critical factor is deficiencies. It should be noted that the severity of the deficiencies is arguably more meaningful than the quantity of deficiencies, as some of these can be relatively insignificant. This particular nursing home had just a single deficiency on its inspection report and it was not one deemed to pose a threat to patient health or safety. Finally, this facility had no substantiated complaints this year from residents, which is an excellent sign.
Short-term Care Quality
This nursing home truly excelled in the area of short-term care, where we gave it a score of A-. Only a select group of nursing homes performed more favorably in this area. In the category of short-term care, we try to evaluate measures of a nursing home's rehabilitation. We look at the nursing home's skilled nursing services, including the ones performed by registered nurses and various therapists. This nursing home is respectable both in terms of its quantity of physical therapy and registered nurse hours provided to its residents. Finally, we considered the number of patients who who were able to eventually return home from this nursing home. We found that it fared as well as just about any nursing home with 60.8 percent of its residents returning home.
Long-term Care Quality
The next category we assessed was long-term care. This facility was awarded a very positive long-term care score, with a B in the area. When nursing homes receive this type of grade in this category it is typically a good sign for resident care and indicates that the place is well-staffed with nurses and aids. On top of looking at the amount of care provided by aids and other staff, we analyzed the number of residents vaccinated for pneumonia. This facility provided the vaccine to 97.159096 percent of its residents, which is what we like to see. Pneumonia sadly is often a deadly illness for nursing home patients so we like it when a facility doesn't leave its residents vulnerable. This nursing home was also able to keep its patients out of the hospital. Indeed, it had just 1.17 hospitalizations per one thousand long-term resident days, which is a significantly better hospitalization rate than the average nursing home.
Nurse Quality
This facility's least impressive area was nursing, which is the final area we analyzed. In this area, we gave this facility a D. In determining a nursing home's nursing grade, we consider the number of hours nurses commit to residents and the level of skill of those nurses. This nursing home averages 3.4 hours of nursing care per resident per day, which is below the national average. Unfortunately, this facility also didn't perform as well as we hoped in some of the quality-based metrics we assessed for this category.
Overall Rating Over Time
Compared to national and state averages across all facilities.
Helmwood Healthcare Center Quality Metrics
Minimizes Pressure Ulcers
This is an indication of the percentage of long-term care residents who developed new or worsened pressure ulcers . We use this statistic in calculating our nursing grades.
Percent of Patients with Pressure Ulcers
Lower is Better
Minimizes Serious Falls
This tells you the percentage of patients who suffered from a major fall. Falls resulting in major injuries are routinely associated with lower levels of patient supervision. More supervision limits the number of major falls sustained by residents in a nursing home.
Percent of Patients with Serious Falls
Lower is Better
Minimizes Urinary Tract Infections
This indicates the percentage of residents who suffered from a urinary tract infection. Urinary tract infections are often caused by lower quality nursing care. More frequent bathing can minimize the percentage of residents in a nursing home who suffer from UTI's. Note that this metric is affected by by the fact that facilities have incongruent reporting standards for infections.
Percent of Patients with UTIs
Lower is Better
Appropriately Uses Anti-Psychotic Medication
This tells you the percentage of patients who were prescribed antipsychotic medications. While antipsychotic drugs may be vital to many patients, it is important to ensure these medications are being used only where medically required. In some cases, high levels of antipsychotic drug use may indicate that a facility is using these drugs to subdue residents.
Percent of Patients
Lower is Better
Appropriately Uses Anti-Anxiety Medication
This metric is a measure of the percentage of long-term residents taking antianxiety medications.
Percent of Patients
Lower is Better
Managing Depression Among Residents
This datapoint is a measure of the percentage of long-term patients who are exhibiting signs of depression. Many in the industry argue that this is a measure of quality of care.
Percent of Patients
Lower is Better
Appropriate Vaccine Usage
This is a measure of the percentage of long-term stay patients who were given the flu and pneumonia vaccines. Respiratory viruses can be deadly for nursing home residents, making these vaccines vital to patient care.
Percent of Patients
Higher is Better
Residents Maintain Autonomy
This metric measures the percentage of long-term care patients that required additional assistance with activities of daily living over time. Activities of daily living include activities such as dressing and continence. Some experts would argue that this is a reliable measure of a resident's well-being.
Percentage of Patients
Lower is Better
Ability to Keep Residents Mobile
This tells you the percent of residents who retained mobility levels over time. Preserving mobility is usually a good sign for residents' well-being.
Percentage of Residents
Higher is Better
Hospitalizations
This tells you the number of times residents are hospitalized per 1,000 days of care. There is typically a correlation between keeping patients out of the hospital and the quality of care.
Hospitalizations per 1,000 resident days
Lower is Better
Short-term Care: Rehospitalizations
This metric is a measure of the number of rehospitalizations per 1,000 days of short-term patient care. Keeping residents out of the hospital during rehabilitation is critical to restoring the physical abilities of patients.
Percentage of Residents Rehospitalized
Lower is Better
Short-term Care: ER Visits
This is the number of emergency room visits per 1,000 days of short-term care. There is generally a correlation between reduced emergency room visits and the overall quality of care.
Percentage of Patients
Lower is Better
Short-term Care: Facilitates Functional Improvement
This indicates the percent of short-term care residents who saw functional improvements, such as enhanced ability to perform activities of daily living. High levels of independence with ADL's often correlates with superior rehabilitation services.
Percentage of Resident
Higher is Better