Highland Care Center

In addition to being a first rate facility overall, this facility also excelled in the area of short-term care, where it received an impressive grade of A. In calculating these short-term care ratings, we analyze the nursing home's skilled nursing services, including those performed by registered nurses, occupational therapists, physical therapists and other types of skilled professionals. The objective is to devise a scale for sizing up the rehabilitation services of nursing homes. Fortunately, it appear that this nursing home employs registered nurses. Not every nursing home employs these types of nurses. However, based on the data this nursing home provided, it does not look like the facility employs physical therapists. Finally, we assessed the number of residents who were able to return to the community from this nursing home. We found that 5.8 percent of this nursing home's patients returned home.

Adding to this facility's impressive resume, we gave this facility an A- for our inspections rating. Our inspection ratings weigh a host of factors found on a nursing home's inspection report. One of the most important criteria we consider is the quantity and severity of deficiencies. Nursing homes with better grades in this category generally have very few severe deficiencies. This particular nursing home received 6 deficiencies on its inspection report. Finally, this facility had no substantiated complaints this year from residents, which is an excellent sign.

The next area we looked at was long-term care. Adding to its first-rate resume, this facility also performed well in this category. In fact, it received a of A- in the area. Nursing homes that excel in this category tend to be well-staffed and offer extensive hands on care to patients. After looking at the amount of care provided by aids and other staff, we then analyzed the facility's vaccination record. This nursing home vaccinated 96.51741 percent of its patients for pneumonia, which is more than the average nursing home. Finally, this facility was able to limit hospitalizations. It had only 0.02 hospitalizations per 1,000 long-term resident days, which is a remarkably low figure.

In our final category, we awarded this facility a grade of A- for its nursing score. This wrapped up a very favorable profile. Our nursing rating consists of quite a few data points, but the paramount consideration is the number of nurse hours per patient per week. This facility provided 0.3 hours of nursing care per resident per day. Lastly, we also looked at a few quality-based metrics in determining our nursing grades. This facility excelled in these areas, with excellent scores for minimizing its residents' pressure ulcers and major falls. These areas are generally reliable indicators of the quality of nursing care a facility provides.