Medilodge of Hillman

In addition to a phenomenal overall grade, this facility also received A+ nursing grade. In calculating a facility's nursing grade, we assess the quantity of hours nurses are caring for residents and the skill levels of those nurses. This facility provided 0.5 hours of nursing care per resident per day. Finally, we also assessed some nursing quality measures in determining our nursing grades. This nursing home performed very well in terms of minimizing its residents' pressure ulcers and major falls. We consider these areas to be good indicators of the quality of nursing care.

Adding to its strong assessments in other areas, we gave this nursing home a score of A for its short-term care grade. In forming these short-term care ratings, we look at the nursing home's skilled nursing services, such as those performed by registered nurses, respiratory therapists, physical therapists and other types of skilled professionals. The objective is to formulate a measure for comparing the rehabilitation services of different nursing homes. Fortunately, it looks like this nursing home employs registered nurses. Not all nursing homes employs these skilled professionals. On the other hand, based on the data this nursing home provided, they do not appear to employ physical therapists. The final metric we looked at in this area is the number of residents who ultimately returned home from the facility. We found that 5.5 percent of this nursing home's residents returned home as opposed to remaining at the nursing home on a permanent basis.

This nursing home also received a nearly flawless government inspection report. It earned one of our best grades in that category with a score of A-. Our inspection ratings weigh a host of factors found on a facility's inspection report. One of the most important criteria we look at is the quantity and severity of deficiencies. Places with higher scores in this category usually have very few severe deficiencies. While this nursing home had a few minor dings on its government inspection report, it had zero severe deficiencies. Severe deficiencies are ones labeled as categories G through L. This tells you the inspectors didn't deem any of the deficiencies on this facility's report to pose an imminent threat to patient health or safety. A couple relatively minor dings are not the end of the world.

In our last area, we gave this nursing home a grade of A- for its long-term care grade. This completed a very favorable profile. Facilities that receive this type of grade in this category tend to provide consistent around the clock care to make sure patients are well cared for. One of the factors we considered in addition to nursing hours is vaccinations. This facility administered the pneumonia vaccination to 98.34711 percent of its patients. Vaccination is a proven method to minimize unnecessary hospitalizations for the nursing home population. Clearly, this place is doing something right in this area as it also excelled at keeping its patients out of the hospital. In fact, it had less than one hospitalization per 1,000 long-term resident days, which is an impressively low figure.