Salina Care Center

The main reason this ended up being a decent nursing home is that it received an excellent inspection score. In fact, its inspection grade was far superior to its overall score. In our inspections category, we gave it an A. Inspection scores account for a host of factors included in a nursing home's inspection report. One key criteria we rely on is the quantity and severity of deficiencies. Facilities with better grades in this category tend to have very few of these severe deficiencies. While this place had a few minor dings on its inspection report, it had no severe deficiencies. Severe deficiencies are those labeled as categories G, H, I, J, K and L. This means the government inspectors did not deem any of the deficiencies on this facility's report to pose an imminent threat to patient health or safety. A couple of minor deficiencies should not lead you to cross a nursing home off your list.

This facility's long-term care grade ended up being one of its higher features. The nursing home was awarded a B- in this area. Our long-term care ratings are meaningful for prospective residents in need of personal care. In addition to assessing the amount of care provided by aids and other staff, we looked at the number of residents vaccinated against pneumonia. This nursing home provided the vaccine to 94.927536 percent of its patients. This nursing home was able to keep its residents out of the hospital. Indeed, it had less than one hospitalization per one thousand long-term resident days, which is an impressively low number.

This nursing home received a strong nursing grade as well. It received one of our higher grades in that area with an above average grade of F. Our nursing score is based on a handful of factors, however, the paramount consideration is the number of nurse hours spent with patients. This facility offered just 0.3 hours of nursing care per resident per day. This figure is far below the national average. Lastly, we also assessed some nursing quality measures in determining our nursing scores. This facility performed well in the area of minimizing its residents' pressure ulcers and major falls. Many consider these areas to be reliable indicators of the quality of nursing care.

The final category we rated is short-term care. It received an F in this area, which is a rock bottom grade. This is certainly a major concern. Our short-term care grades are crucial for patients needing rehabilitation. Rehabilitation typically mandates higher levels of skilled nursing services. Skilled nursing includes a vast scope of services, spanning from registered nurses to physical and occupational therapists, as well as other forms of therapy. As you might expect, we found that this nursing home offers substantially less physical therapist and registered nurse hours per patient than the average nursing home. The last metric we considered in this area is the percentage of patients who were able to return home from the nursing home. This facility struggled quite a bit in this area as well, with just 4.4 percent of its residents returning home. This was quite a bit below average.