Pickersgill Retirement Community
615 Chestnut Ave, Towson MD 21204 · (410) 825-7423 · 73.48% estimated occupancy 1Updated: Aug 1, 2020 · By Nick Lata
Pickersgill Retirement Community is a small non-profit nursing home located in Towson, Maryland. This nursing home was awarded an A- overall, which is one of the most impressive grades that we offer. A score of this caliber requires top-notch marks across the board. Based on our assessment, this place is simply as good as it gets. This place's strong profile was highlighted by its inspection reports, which is addressed in the next paragraph.
Additional Details:
Accepts Medicare 1 :
Accepts Medicaid 1 : 43 Beds
CCRC :
Non profit - Corporation
Resident Council:
Family Council:
Medical Staff Hours Per Patient (2019)
Facility Inspections
One of the reasons this place turned out to be a great nursing home is it received an A+ in our inspections category. This is simply as good as it gets in this critical category. Inspection scores weigh several factors, including deficiencies, substantiated complaints and federal fines. You can find more information about each of these issues by obtaining copies of nursing homes' inspection reports. Unfortunately, it doesn't appear that we have deficiency counts for this nursing home. Finally, this facility had no substantiated complaints this year from residents, which is an excellent sign.
Nurse Quality
This facility also excelled in the area of nursing, where it received a grade of A-. Few nursing homes performed better in this area. Our nursing score is primarily tied to a nursing home's level of nurse staffing. With 4.7 hours of nursing care per resident per day, this nursing home surpassed the overwhelming majority of facilities. Finally, we also looked at nursing quality-based metrics in determining our nursing ratings. These include minimizing residents' pressure ulcers and major falls. We look at these datapoints as predictive measures of the quality of nursing care provided, since better care tends to reduce these problems.
Long-term Care Quality
This facility also was given a very impressive long-term care score. This actually turned out to be this facility's third best category grade. In that category, we gave this facility a grade of A-. In a long-term care environment, the primary goal is to keep patients healthy and safe. This is different than skilled nursing or short-term care where the goal is to rehabilitate patients. This facility's vaccination statistics weren't as favorable as its nursing hours data. It provided the pneumonia vaccine to just 76.66667 percent of its patients. We'd love to see some improvement in this area next year. While its vaccination rate was a bit lower than we hoped for, at least this place was able to limit hospitalizations. With only 1 hospitalizations per 1,000 long-term resident days, this nursing home has fewer hospitalizations than most nursing homes.
Short-term Care Quality
Switching gears to the next area, this nursing home received an acceptable short-term care rating. Although this was not as good as some of its other grades, this is really not a poor grade. Our short-term care scores are probably more meaningful for those in need of rehabilitation from their nursing home. Rehabilitation usually mandates more skilled nursing. Skilled nursing includes not just nursing, but also physical and respiratory therapy, as well as other forms of therapy. This nursing home excelled in the two key staffing areas we looked at. It offered more care from registered nurses and physical therapists than the average nursing home. The last item we assessed in this category is the percentage of residents who were able to leave the nursing home and return to the community. We discovered that just 16 percent of this facility's residents were able to return home, which is actually below average.
Overall Rating Over Time
Compared to national and state averages across all facilities.
Pickersgill Retirement Community Quality Metrics
Minimizes Pressure Ulcers
This is the percentage of residents that sustained a pressure ulcer. Pressure ulcers are damage to the skin due to remaining in the same position for an excessive period of time.
Percent of Patients with Pressure Ulcers
Lower is Better
Minimizes Serious Falls
This tells you the percent of patients who have had a major fall. Falls leading to serious injuries are routinely associated with poor nursing care. Closer supervision limits the number of major falls sustained by residents in a nursing home.
Percent of Patients with Serious Falls
Lower is Better
Minimizes Urinary Tract Infections
This is the percentage of residents that have had a urinary tract infection. UTI's are considered by many experts to be a measure of nursing care at a nursing home. UTI's are routinely associated with poor nursing care. Nevertheless, this metric could also be skewed for certain facilities due to varying reporting standards for UTI's.
Percent of Patients with UTIs
Lower is Better
Appropriately Uses Anti-Psychotic Medication
This is the percentage of residents who were prescribed antipsychotic drugs. While antipsychotic medications may be helpful for many patients, it is important to confirm these drugs are being used appropriately. In limited cases, high levels of antipsychotic drug use may mean a facility is using these medications to control patient behavior.
Percent of Patients
Lower is Better
Appropriately Uses Anti-Anxiety Medication
This is an indication of the percentage of long-term patients who were given antianxiety medication. These medications are generally used to treat patients experiencing depression or anxiety.
Percent of Patients
Lower is Better
Managing Depression Among Residents
Measures the percentage of long-term stay patients showing depressive symptoms. Some experts believe this is a measure of patient quality of care.
Percent of Patients
Lower is Better
Appropriate Vaccine Usage
This datapoint is a measure of the percentage of long-term patients who were vaccinated against pneumonia and flu.
Percent of Patients
Higher is Better
Residents Maintain Autonomy
This is the percentage of residents who required more assistance with activities of daily living over time.
Percentage of Patients
Lower is Better
Ability to Keep Residents Mobile
This metric measures the percent of long-term residents who were able to retain mobility.
Percentage of Residents
Higher is Better
Hospitalizations
This indicates the number of times residents are hospitalized per thousand days of care.
Hospitalizations per 1,000 resident days
Lower is Better
Short-term Care: Rehospitalizations
This datapoint measures the number of times residents are rehospitalized per thousand days of short-term resident care.
Percentage of Residents Rehospitalized
Lower is Better
Short-term Care: Facilitates Functional Improvement
This indicates the percent of short-term care residents who experienced functional improvements, such as with activities of daily living. High levels of autonomy with ADL's typically correlates with successful rehabilitation.
Percentage of Resident
Higher is Better