Highland Park Care Center

On top of receiving a strong overall grade, this facility also earned first-rate government inspections in recent years. We gave them one of our best grades in this area, with a grade of A+. Our inspection ratings weigh several factors included in a facility's inspection reports. One key criteria we rely on is the number and severity of deficiencies. Facilities with higher scores in this area tend to have few severe deficiencies. While this place had some minor dings on its report, it had zero severe deficiencies. Severe deficiencies are ones labeled as 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. A few minor dings are not necessarily something to panic about.

This facility also received an impressive short-term care grade. Indeed, we awarded it an above average grade of B+ in this area. In calculating our short-term care scores, we scrutinize a nursing home's levels of highly skilled nursing services, which includes registered nurses, physical therapists occupational therapists and other types of therapists. This category is generally a solid measure of the facility's ability to rehabilitate patients. Fortunately, it appear that this nursing home has registered nurses on staff. Not all nursing homes employs these types of nurses. On the other hand, according to the data they provided, it does not look like the facility employs physical therapists. The final datapoint we assessed in this category is the number of residents that who were able to eventually return home from the nursing home. We found that 5.7 percent of this nursing home's patients returned home as opposed to remaining at the nursing home on a permanent basis.

This nursing home was awarded its next best category score in the area of long-term care. We awarded this nursing home a grade of B- in this area, which is a reasonably acceptable grade. In calculating our long-term care ratings, we assess the nursing home's ability to maintain its permanent residents' health and quality of life. After looking at the amount of care provided by nurses and other staff, we turned to the nursing home's vaccination records. This facility vaccinated 99.34426 percent of its residents against pneumonia, which is higher than most nursing homes. Lastly, this nursing home was also able to limit hospitalizations. Indeed, it had less than one hospitalization per one thousand long-term resident days, which is an impressively low number.

Switching gears to the last area, this facility was awarded a B- in nursing, which is generally an acceptable rating. In determining our nursing ratings, we analyze both the number of hours nurses spend with residents and the levels of licensure of those nurses. This nursing home averages just 0.4 hours of nursing care per resident per day. This is a very low figure. Finally, our nursing grades also consider quality-based assessments, such as preventing major falls. Despite not having the highest total nursing hours per resident, this facility performed admirably in the area of preventing major falls. This is generally an indicator that a nursing home has sufficient quality controls in place. Many falls could be avoided if a nursing home provides enough nurses aids to assist its patients.