Ottawa Pavilion

One of the reasons this ended up being a strong facility is that it received an impressive inspection score. In fact, inspections is its best category. In this area, we gave it an A+. Inspection scores are tied to items located in the a nursing home's recent inspection reports. Nursing homes that receive favorable grades in this area tend to have very few deficiencies on their reports. Most importantly, these facilities generally do not have any severe deficiencies which are associated with risks to patient safety. 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. Even some of the best nursing homes receive an occasional ding on their inspection report.

Contributing to its profile, this nursing home also received a grade of B+ for its short-term care rating. This is a well above average score in this category. Our short-term care grades are crucial for residents in need of rehabilitation. Rehabilitation typically requires higher levels of highly-skilled nursing. This includes a wide scope of nursing services, ranging from registered nurses to physical and respiratory therapists, as well as other forms of therapy. This nursing home employs both physical therapists and registered nurses. Not all facilities employ these skilled professionals. This facility performed much better in the final datapoint we assessed in this category, which was the number of residents who were able to leave the nursing home and return to the community. We found that it fared as well as just about any facility in Illinois in this area with 61.6 percent of its patients returning home. With most nursing homes, fewer than half of their short-stay residents are able to return home.

Next, we looked at the nursing category where we awarded this nursing home a grade of C. This facility didn't perform quite as well in this category as it did in some other categories. Nevertheless, this is still a respectable score. The nursing score consists of a handful of subcategories, but the paramount consideration is the level of nurse hours per patient per week. This place averages just 3.2 hours of nursing care per patient each day, which is a very low figure. Finally, our nursing grades also factor in some quality-focused metrics. We especially look at the percentage of patients who sustained pressure ulcers and major falls. Sometimes these metrics are indicators of the quality of nursing care, since superior care can reduce these issues.

The final area we assessed was long-term care. We gave it a grade of C in that area. This is basically a middle of the road grade in this category. Long-term care scores are crucial for residents looking for personal care. In addition to assessing the amount of care provided by nurses and other staff, we also looked at the number of residents vaccinated against pneumonia. Fortunately, this facility vaccinated 100 percent of its residents, which is a very solid percentage. Finally, this place was able to limit hospitalizations. With only 1.12 hospitalizations per 1,000 long-term resident days, this nursing home has fewer hospitalizations than the average nursing home.