Norwood Towers Post-Acute

While we were not complementary of this nursing home's overall grade, it actually earned an impressive nursing score this year. We gave it a grade of B+ in this category. We looked at the skill-level of nurses at the facility, in addition to the quantity of time those nurses worked with residents, in determining our grade in this area. This facility provided 0.4 hours of nursing care per resident per day. Finally, our nursing grades also factor in quality-based assessments, such as avoiding major falls. This place performed well in this area. Avoiding major falls is typically a good indicator that a facility has reliable quality controls in place. Major falls can typically be prevented if more nurses aids and better safety protocols are in place.

One of this nursing home's more favorable category scores was in the area of short-term care. This proved to be its second most respectable category. In that category, we gave this facility a grade of B-. Short-term care ratings are important for residents needing rehabilitation. Rehabilitation typically mandates more skilled nursing. Skilled nursing includes a vast range of services, ranging from registered nurses to physical and occupational therapists, as well as other types of therapy. Unfortunately, we found that this place provided fewer physical therapist and registered nurse hours per resident than most other facilities. The last item we assessed in this area is the number of patients who were able to leave the nursing home and return home. We discovered that just 0 percent of this facility's patients were able to return home, which is actually below average.

Turning to the area of long-term care, this facility was awarded just a D in that area. If you are seeking services other than short-term rehabilitation, you should take a close look at each nursing home's long-term care grades. On top of looking at the amount of care provided by nurses aids and other staff, we looked at the number of residents vaccinated against pneumonia. This facility administered the vaccine to 100 percent of its patients, which is more than the average nursing home. Surprisingly, this facility also fared well at keeping its patients out of the hospital. In fact, it had only 0 hospitalizations per one thousand long-term resident days. Sadly, a few of its other scores in this category were not as favorable as these.

Unfortunately, this nursing home did not receive a favorable inspection rating. We gave it just a just D in this category. Inspection ratings relate to a nursing home's inspection reports. Our inspection grades factor in many items found on the nursing home's inspection reports. If you see too many deficiencies on the inspection reports, this is generally the worst sign. Severe deficiencies indicate a risk to resident safety. This particular facility was assessed 5 deficiencies by CMS. The only favorable thing we found is that none of these deficiencies were in the categories that indicate that they created a threat to resident health or safety. Finally, we want to draw your attention to the fact that this nursing home was assessed significant government fines recently amounting to over $100,000. This typically means that a facility's poor performance has been an issue for more than one year.