Hickory Creek at Greensburg

In addition to performing well in its overall grade, this facility performed at an even higher level in the area of inspections. In fact, it received a nearly flawless inspection report this year. As a result, it received one of our highest grades in that category with a score of A. Our inspection grades are based on many datapoints found on the a nursing home's recent inspection reports. Nursing homes that excel in this area typically have very few deficiencies on their reports. Most importantly, these facilities generally do not have any severe deficiencies which are associated with endangerment of patients. While this place had some minor dings on its government inspection report, it had zero severe deficiencies. Severe deficiencies are those found in categories G through L. This tells you that the government inspectors did not consider any of the deficiencies on this facility's report to pose an imminent threat to patient health or safety. Finally, this facility had no substantiated complaints this year from residents, which is an excellent sign.

This nursing home also was awarded a strong long-term care grade. In fact, we awarded it an above average score of B+ in this area. Facilities that receive this kind of score in long-term care tend to provide consistent 24/7 care to ensure patients are well cared for. In addition to assessing the amount of care provided by aids and other staff, we analyzed the number of residents vaccinated for pneumonia. This nursing home vaccinated 94.50549 percent of its patients, which is higher than the vast majority of nursing homes. Finally, this nursing home was able to limit hospitalizations. In fact, it had less than one hospitalization per one thousand long-term resident days, which is an impressively low number.

The next most favorable area we awarded this facility in any category came in the category of short-term care, where we awarded it a B-. Our short-term care ratings are crucial for people seeking rehabilitation. Rehabilitation usually mandates additional highly-skilled nursing. This means a vast range of nursing services, ranging from registered nurses to physical and occupational therapists, as well as other forms of therapy. Fortunately, it looks like this facility has registered nurses on staff. Not all nursing homes employs these types of nurses. On the other hand, based on the data this nursing home provided, it does not look like the facility employs physical therapists. The last measure we assessed in this category is the percentage of residents who returned home from the nursing home. We found that just 0 percent of this facility's residents returned home.

The next category we graded was nursing. We gave it a C in that area. This is a fair grade in this area. Nursing grades are largely tied to the nursing home's nurse staffing. This nursing home provides 0.3 hours of nursing care per patient daily. This is a lower figure than we were hoping for. Finally, we also looked at some nursing quality-based metrics. While this place got docked a bit for nursing hours, it actually excelled in a few of these quality-based measures. With fewer than five percent of its patients experiencing pressure ulcers, it fared well in this area. This can be an indicator of quality nursing care. Pressure ulcers can often be avoided by offering better nursing care, such as having a policy of moving a patient at least once a day.