Highview of Northampton
222 River Road, Leeds MA 01053 · (413) 584-8457 · 81.75% estimated occupancy 1Updated: Aug 1, 2020 · By Nick Reese
With an address in Leeds, Massachusetts, Highview of Northampton is one of just two available nursing homes in this area. This is a solid facility, with an overall grade of C. Based on our assessment, there are certainly far worse places out there. One of the better aspects of this facility's report card is its impressive nursing score, which you can find in the next paragraph.
Additional Details:
Accepts Medicare 1 :
Accepts Medicaid 1 : 120 Beds
CCRC :
For profit - Corporation
Resident Council:
Family Council:
Medical Staff Hours Per Patient (2019)
Nurse Quality
This nursing home received a solid overall grade as described above, but it really excelled in nursing care, with an impressive grade of A- in this category. When computing our nursing ratings, we factor in both nursing hours and the skill levels of the nurses. This facility provided 3.7 hours of nursing care per resident per day. Finally, we also assessed some nursing quality-based metrics in determining our nursing grades. This facility performed very well when it comes to minimizing its residents' pressure ulcers and major falls. We consider these areas to be good indicators of the quality of nursing care.
Long-term Care Quality
One of this nursing home's more favorable category scores came in the area of long-term care. This wound up being its second best category. In that category, we gave this facility a grade of B-. For long-term care residents, the primary objective is to keep patients healthy and safe. This is different than skilled nursing or short-term care where the goal is to rehabilitate patients. On top of considering the amount of care provided by nurses aids and other staff, we analyzed the percentage of residents vaccinated against pneumonia. We were a bit concerned this nursing home administered the vaccine to a relatively low 83.62069 percent of its patients. The last statistic we assessed was its hospitalization rate. While it had 2.01 hospitalizations per one thousand long-term resident days, its risk adjusted metric was not as bad.
Short-term Care Quality
The third highest category we gave this nursing home in any area came in the category of short-term care, where we awarded it a grade of B-. In computing these short-term care ratings, we assess the facility's skilled nursing services, including those performed by registered nurses, occupational therapists, physical therapists and other types of skilled professionals. Our goal is to create a measure for comparing the rehabilitation services of nursing homes. This nursing home employs both physical therapists and registered nurses. Not all facilities employ these skilled professionals. Lastly, we considered the number of residents who were able to return to the community from this nursing home. We found that 44.4 percent of this facility's patients returned home. At most facilities, closer to half of their residents are able to return home so this is below average.
Facility Inspections
In the final category of inspections, this ended up being this nursing home's weakest link. Inspection grades are based on a nursing home's recent government inspections. We gave this facility a score of D in this category, which is a very poor grade. We take several aspects of a facility's inspection report into consideration in determining these inspection grades. One key factor is deficiencies. We would pay close attention to the severity of the deficiencies. This particular facility had 4 deficiencies by CMS. The only positive thing we found is that none of the deficiencies were in the categories that suggest that they caused a risk to patient health or safety. Finally, we also need to draw your attention to the fact that this place was assessed significant government fines totaling more than $100,000. This often indicates that a nursing home's bad track record has been an issue for several years.
Overall Rating Over Time
Compared to national and state averages across all facilities.
Highview of Northampton Quality Metrics
Minimizes Pressure Ulcers
This statistic tells you the percent of long-term stay patients who have new or worsened pressure ulcers. Many experts believe that pressure ulcers are a solid indicator of quality of care.
Percent of Patients with Pressure Ulcers
Lower is Better
Minimizes Serious Falls
This is the percentage of residents that sustained a fall resulting in severe injury.
Percent of Patients with Serious Falls
Lower is Better
Minimizes Urinary Tract Infections
This is the percent of patients that suffered from a urinary tract infection. Urinary tract infections are considered by many experts to be a barometer of the quality of nursing care at a nursing home. UTI's are often linked to poor nursing care. Nevertheless, this statistic could be skewed for certain facilities due to inconsistent reporting standards for UTI's.
Percent of Patients with UTIs
Lower is Better
Appropriately Uses Anti-Psychotic Medication
This tells you the percent of residents prescribed antipsychotic drugs. Antipsychotic drugs are given to patients for a variety of medical conditions, including cognitive disorders. Sadly, in some situations, increased usage of these drugs may suggest a facility is using these medications to control patient behavior.
Percent of Patients
Lower is Better
Appropriately Uses Anti-Anxiety Medication
This tells you the percentage of patients who were prescribed antianxiety drugs. Antianxiety medications are given to patients experiencing depression and anxiety.
Percent of Patients
Lower is Better
Managing Depression Among Residents
This is the percentage of residents who are showing symptoms of depression.
Percent of Patients
Lower is Better
Appropriate Vaccine Usage
This indicates the percentage of residents that received the pneumonia and flu vaccines. Higher vaccination rates should be the norm at this point.
Percent of Patients
Higher is Better
Residents Maintain Autonomy
This datapoint measures the percentage of long-term residents who required additional assistance with activities of daily living over time. Activities of daily living include activities such as moving around and taking a bath. Many argue this is a reasonable measure of a resident's well-being.
Percentage of Patients
Lower is Better
Ability to Keep Residents Mobile
This is the percent of patients who remained mobile levels over time. Retaining mobility is usually a good sign for residents' well-being.
Percentage of Residents
Higher is Better
Hospitalizations
This is a measure of the number of times residents are hospitalized per 1,000 days of patient care.
Hospitalizations per 1,000 resident days
Lower is Better
Short-term Care: Rehospitalizations
This is a measure of the number of rehospitalizations per 1,000 days of short-term patient care. Minimizing rehospitalizations during rehabilitation is important to restoring the health 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 patient care. There is usually a correlation between staying out of the emergency room and the quality of nursing home care.
Percentage of Patients
Lower is Better
Short-term Care: Facilitates Functional Improvement
This indicates the percent of short-term residents who experienced functional improvements, such as enhanced ability to perform activities of daily living. High levels of performance with ADL's often correlates with better rehabilitation.
Percentage of Resident
Higher is Better