Life Care Center of Banner Elk
185 Norwood Hollow Road, Banner Elk NC 28604 · (828) 898-5136 · 65.25% estimated occupancy 1Updated: Aug 1, 2020 · By Nick Lata
Life Care Center of Banner Elk is in Banner Elk, North Carolina. The city has 6,249 people. This is a quality facility, with an overall grade of B. This facility definitely has plenty going for it. This nursing home is better in some categories than others, but it did not have any poor grades in any of the four major categories. More information about these categories can be found below.
Additional Details:
Accepts Medicare 1 :
Accepts Medicaid 1 : 118 Beds
CCRC :
For profit - Corporation
Resident Council:
Family Council:
Medical Staff Hours Per Patient (2019)
Facility Inspections
In addition to earning a great overall score, this nursing home fared even better in our inspections category which is associated with the facility's recent government inspection reports. We awarded it a grade of A+ for this category, which is one of our highest grades. We weigh several aspects of a nursing home's inspection report in computing our inspection grades. One critical factor is deficiencies. You should keep in mind that the severity of these deficiencies is arguably more meaningful than the quantity of deficiencies, as some end up being relatively insignificant. While this facility had some minor dings on its inspection report, it had no severe deficiencies. Severe deficiencies are ones found in categories G through L. This tells you that the inspectors didn't deem any of the deficiencies on this facility's report to pose an imminent threat to patient safety or health. The fact that none of the deficiencies were severe leaves us less concerned with this inspection report.
Short-term Care Quality
This facility is also above average in the category of short-term care, where it was awarded a grade of B+. It outperformed most nursing homes in this category. Our short-term care grades are likely most meaningful for residents in need of rehabilitation from their nursing home. Rehabilitation usually utilizes additional highly-skilled nursing services. Skilled nursing means not just nursing services, but also physical and respiratory therapy, as well as other forms of therapy. Remarkably, this place provides its residents at least 1.5 times as many physical therapist hours per week than the average nursing home. The last metric we looked at in this category is the percentage of patients who were able to return home. This facility was above average with 49.9 percent of its residents returning home.
Nurse Quality
Adding to its profile, this facility also earned a grade of B for its nursing rating. This is a well above average score in this category. Our nursing grade is based on a number of factors. The most heavily weighted factor is the number of hours nurses spent with patients. This facility provided 3.4 hours of nursing care per resident per day. Finally, we also looked at certain nursing quality measures in computing our nursing grades. These include minimizing residents' pressure ulcers and major falls. We look at these metrics as predictive indicators of the quality of nursing care offered, since better care tends to reduce these problems.
Long-term Care Quality
The next area we rated was long-term care. For that category, we gave this facility a grade of C. Long-term care grades assess a nursing home's personal care rather than the highly skilled therapy and medical services that are critical to a skilled nursing facility. Once we concluded our assessment of the quantity of care provided by nurses, we turned to the facility's vaccination records. We were pleased to find that this nursing home vaccinates 100 percent of its patients against pneumonia. Lastly, this nursing home was able to limit hospitalizations. With only 1.67 hospitalizations per 1,000 long-term resident days, this nursing home had less hospitalizations than the majority of nursing homes.
Overall Rating Over Time
Compared to national and state averages across all facilities.
Life Care Center of Banner Elk Quality Metrics
Minimizes Pressure Ulcers
This figure is a measure of the percent of long-term stay residents that suffered from pressure ulcers or bed sores. We use this statistic in calculating both nursing and long-term care grades.
Percent of Patients with Pressure Ulcers
Lower is Better
Minimizes Serious Falls
This indicates the percentage of residents that sustained a major fall. Falls resulting in serious injuries are considered to be a measure of nursing care at a nursing home. Falls resulting in injury are often the result of lower quality nursing care.
Percent of Patients with Serious Falls
Lower is Better
Minimizes Urinary Tract Infections
This datapoint tells you the percent of long-term care patients who had UTI's. While a higher rate of these infections may reflect poorly on a nursing home's nursing care, it can be difficult to compare different facilities due to nursing homes having varying reporting standards.
Percent of Patients with UTIs
Lower is Better
Appropriately Uses Anti-Psychotic Medication
This indicates the percent of patients prescribed antipsychotic drugs. These medications may be used to treat several medical conditions, such as cognitive disorders.
Percent of Patients
Lower is Better
Appropriately Uses Anti-Anxiety Medication
This metric indicates the percentage of long-term care patients which are given antianxiety medication. These drugs are used to treat residents suffering from anxiety and depression.
Percent of Patients
Lower is Better
Managing Depression Among Residents
This tells you the percentage of residents who are exhibiting signs of depression.
Percent of Patients
Lower is Better
Appropriate Vaccine Usage
This indicates the percentage of patients that received the pneumonia and flu vaccines. High vaccination rates should be standard at this point.
Percent of Patients
Higher is Better
Residents Maintain Autonomy
This tells you the percent of residents that needed more assistance with activities of daily living over time. Higher levels of needing for assistance with activities of daily living could be a sign of the decline of a patient's well-being.
Percentage of Patients
Lower is Better
Ability to Keep Residents Mobile
This tells you the percent of residents that maintained mobility over time. Preserving mobility can be a good sign for residents' well-being.
Percentage of Residents
Higher is Better
Hospitalizations
Measures the number of times residents are hospitalized per thousand days of patient care.
Hospitalizations per 1,000 resident days
Lower is Better
Short-term Care: Rehospitalizations
This metric measures the number of times residents are rehospitalized per thousand days of short-term resident care. Avoiding the hospital during rehabilitation is critical to restoring the physical abilities of residents.
Percentage of Residents Rehospitalized
Lower is Better
Short-term Care: ER Visits
This datapoint measures the number of emergency room visits per thousand days of short-term patient care.
Percentage of Patients
Lower is Better
Short-term Care: Facilitates Functional Improvement
This datapoint is a measure of the percentage of short-term stay patients that experienced functional improvements, such as with activities of daily living. Many in the industry argue this is a reliable measure of a facility's rehabilitation services.
Percentage of Resident
Higher is Better