Kauai Veterans Memorial Hospital

Kauai Veterans Memorial Hospital is located in Waimea, Hawaii, a city with a total of 1,881 people. This facility is among the highest-graded facilities we found. In fact, it received our absolute highest grade. In fact, we ranked this nursing home in the top ten percentile of all facilities in the nation. Headlining this place's remarkable report card is its long-term care rating, which is addressed in the next section.

We also found that this nursing home excelled in long-term care. We awarded them an A+ in this category. Nursing homes that excel in this category typically are well-staffed and offer extensive hands on care to residents. In addition to considering the impressive level of care provided by nurses and other staff at this facility, we also were happy with the nursing home's vaccination record. By way of example, this nursing home gave the pneumonia vaccine to 100 percent of its residents, which is what we like to see. Finally, this nursing home was able to limit hospitalizations. Indeed, it had less than one hospitalization per one thousand long-term resident days, which is a remarkably low number.

Another reason we rated this nursing home so highly is that it received an A+ nursing grade. This is simply as good as it gets in this category. Our nursing score is mostly associated with the facility's level of nurse staffing. This particular facility provided 4.6 hours of nursing care per patient daily. This was one of the highest figures we found. Furthermore, we found that a significant percentage of this care was provided by registered nurses, which are highly skilled nurses. On top of providing impressive levels of nursing care, this place also excelled in several of the quality-based metrics we assessed. With below 5 percent of its residents suffering from pressure ulcers, it performed as well as any facility the state in this category.

This facility also received a nearly flawless inspection report. As a result, it received one of our highest grades in that category with an A. Our inspection scores account for a host of factors included in a nursing home's inspection reports. One of the most important criteria we weigh heavily is the number and severity of deficiencies. Places with higher grades in this area tend to have very few severe deficiencies. This particular nursing home had just a single deficiency on its inspection report and it was not one deemed to pose a threat to patient health or safety. Finally, this facility had no substantiated complaints this year from residents, which is an excellent sign.

Turning to the last area, this facility also excelled in the short-term care category. In fact, we gave it a grade of A- for that category. This topped off a straight A report card. Our short-term care ratings are meaningful for individuals looking for rehabilitation. Rehabilitation typically mandates higher levels of skilled nursing services. This means a wide scope of services, ranging from registered nurses to physical and respiratory therapists, as well as other types of therapy. One reason for this place's strong grade in this area is that it offers more care from registered nurses to its residents than the typical nursing home. Finally, we looked at the number of residents that ultimately were able to return home from this nursing home. We found that 0 percent of this facility's patients were able to return home.