Hi-Desert Medical Center is an average-sized hospital-based nursing home located in Joshua Tree, California. This nursing home received an uninspiring overall grade of D based on the data we looked at. This was not the worse nursing home we found, but we'd still be very reluctant to recommend it. More information on this facility's category grades may be found below. Its best category was inspections, which is addressed in the next section.
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Hi-Desert Medical Center
- Nursing Home
- Home Health Agency
Updated Nov 1, 2023 by Nick Lata
Note: Hi-Desert Medical Center has been flagged for abuse in the past 12 months. We have capped this facility's overall grade accordingly.
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- Accepts Medicare 1
- Accepts Medicaid 1
- No CCRC
- Has Resident Council
- No Family Council
- For profit - Corporation
- Offers Hospice
- Offers Post-Acute Care
- Offers Inpatient Rehab
- Offers Outpatient Rehab
Specialized Services
- Personal Care
- Speech Therapy
- Stroke Recovery
- Amputee Recovery
- Wound Care
- Occupational Therapy
- Cardiac Therapy
- Podiatry
- Mental Health
- Physical Therapy
- Respiratory Therapy
- Pharmacy
- Laboratory
- X-Ray
- Recreational Therapy
- Pain Management
- Optometry
- Oncology Care
- Orthopedic Rehabilitation
- Lymphedema Care
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Registered Staff Hours
Facility Inspections
While this nursing home's overall grade was not a highlight, it actually received a slightly more favorable score in the area of inspections. We awarded it a B- for that category, which is a decent score. These inspection ratings weigh several factors, including deficiencies, substantiated complaints and federal fines. You can find more information about each of these items by obtaining copies of nursing homes' inspection reports. Although this nursing home had some deficiencies on its government inspection report, none of them were major deficiencies based on CMS' scale. Finally, CMS flagged this nursing home for possible abuse or neglect. This is not what you want to see. We advise you to direct your search elsewhere.
Nurse Quality
One of the other reasons we rated this nursing home so highly is that it earned a very impressive nursing score. In fact, nursing proved to be its second best category grade. In that area, we gave this nursing home an B-. The nursing grade includes quite a few components, but the most important consideration is the level of nurse hours per patient per week. This nursing home provides 0.3 hours of nursing care per resident per day. This is a much lower figure than we are used to seeing. Finally, although this facility got docked a bit for nursing hours, it excelled in a few of our quality-based measures. With fewer than five percent of its residents sustaining pressure ulcers, it fared well in this subcategory.
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Short-term Care Quality
This nursing home's third best area was short-term care. In that category, we awarded this facility a B-. Our short-term care grades are presumably more critical for folks needing rehabilitation from their nursing home. Rehabilitation typically mandates more highly-skilled nursing services. This means not merely nursing services, but also physical and occupational therapy, as well as other types of therapy. In this place's case, we were surprised to learn that it actually provides less registered nurse and physical therapist hours per resident than the typical facility. Lastly, we considered the number of residents who were able to return to the community from this nursing home. We found that 5.9 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.
Long-term Care Quality
The final category we rated is long-term care, which turned out to be this nursing home's worst area. We awarded this nursing home a grade of D in this category. When nursing homes receive this type of score in long-term care it is typically a bad sign for resident care and it may indicate that the place is not as well-staffed with nurses and aids. After we finished assessing the volume of care provided by nurses, we then looked at the nursing home's vaccination statistics. We were a bit worried that this facility vaccinated just 87.67507 percent of its patients for pneumonia. Surprisingly, this nursing home was actually decent at keeping its patients out of the hospital. Indeed, it had only 0.02 hospitalizations per one thousand long-term resident days. This was its best feature in this category.
Rating Over Time
Compared to national and state averages across all facilities.
Hi-Desert Medical Center Quality Metrics
Minimizes Pressure Ulcers
In Hi-Desert Medical Center, 10.25% of Patients had Pressure Ulcers
This metric is an indication of the percent of long-term patients which have new or worsened pressure ulcers or bed sores. We use this statistic in calculating both nursing and long-term care grades.
Minimizes Serious Falls
In Hi-Desert Medical Center, 0.84% of Patients had Serious Falls
This is the percent of residents that sustained a fall which resulted in major injury.
Minimizes Urinary Tract Infections
In Hi-Desert Medical Center, 12.18% of Patients had UTIs
This statistic measures the percent of long-term patients who experienced urinary tract infections. Although more of these infections could reflect poorly on a nursing home's nursing care, it can be problematic to compare different nursing homes due to facilities having differing reporting standards.
Appropriately Uses Anti-Psychotic Medication
In Hi-Desert Medical Center, 15.95% of Patients use Anti-Psychotic Medication
This indicates the percent of patients who were given antipsychotic medications. Antipsychotic medications are given to residents for many conditions, such as cognitive disorders. Unfortunately, in limited situations, increased usage of these drugs may mean a facility is using these drugs to control patient behavior.
Appropriately Uses Anti-Anxiety Medication
In Hi-Desert Medical Center, 15.2% of Patients use Anti-Anxiety Medication
This datapoint tells you the percentage of long-term patients which are administered antianxiety medication. These drugs are given to residents suffering from anxiety or depression.
Managing Depression Among Residents
In Hi-Desert Medical Center, 2.43% of Patients
This datapoint is a measure of the percent of long-term patients who are exhibiting depressive symptoms. Many in the industry argue that this is a reliable measure of quality of life.
Appropriate Vaccine Usage
In Hi-Desert Medical Center, 92.8% of Patients
This is a measure of the percent of long-term patients who were vaccinated against pneumonia and flu.
Residents Maintain Autonomy
In Hi-Desert Medical Center, 26.67% of Patients
This datapoint is a measure of the percentage of long-term patients that required additional assistance with activities of daily living over time. ADL's include activities such as taking medications and continence.
Ability to Keep Residents Mobile
In Hi-Desert Medical Center, 38.87% of Residents
This tells you the percent of residents who retained mobility levels over time. Retaining mobility is usually a good sign for residents' health.
Hospitalizations
In Hi-Desert Medical Center, 0.02 Hospitalizations per 1,000 resident days
This tells you the number of times residents are hospitalized per 1,000 days of patient care. There is usually a correlation between staying out of the hospital and the overall quality of nursing home care.
Short-term Care: Rehospitalizations
In Hi-Desert Medical Center, 38.87% of Residents Rehospitalized
This metric tracks the number of times residents are rehospitalized per 1,000 days of short-term resident care. Staying out of the hospital during rehabilitation is key to restoring the health of residents.
Short-term Care: ER Visits
In Hi-Desert Medical Center, 4.72% of Patients
This indicates the number of times residents are sent to the emergency room per thousand days of short-term patient care. There is usually a correlation between fewer emergency room visits and the overall quality of rehabilitation.
Short-term Care: Facilitates Functional Improvement
In Hi-Desert Medical Center, 58.46% of Resident
This metric is a measure of the percentage of short-term residents that experienced functional improvements.
Nearby Hospitals
- Hi-Desert Medical CenterAcute Care Hospitals 0 miles away6601 White Feather Road Joshua Tree California 92252Government - Hospital District or Authority(760) 366-3711
- Nh Twenty Nine PalmsAcute Care - Department of Defense 14.41 miles away1145 Sturgis Road Twentynine Palms California 92278Department of Defense(760) 830-2190