Preton Place

Although we gave this facility a terrible overall grade, we awarded it a B- for our inspections rating. In fact, the facility received very impressive inspection report this year. We believe that one of the most important factors in assessing an inspection report is deficiencies. In this regard, we especially focus on the severity of the deficiencies. This facility was hit with 2 deficiencies on its inspection report, but fortunately none of the deficiencies were considered to be severe. This tells you that the inspectors didn't consider any of these deficiencies an imminent risk to resident health or safety. Finally, CMS cited this nursing home for possible abuse or neglect. Hopefully, its performance improves in the future, but until then we simply can't recommend this facility.

We were also pleasantly surprised to learn that this facility received a reasonably solid long-term care grade this year. We gave it a B- in that area. In calculating these long-term care ratings, we analyze the facility's ability to maintain its permanent residents' health and quality of life. In addition to assessing the quantity of care provided by nurses aids and other staff, we looked at the number of residents vaccinated for pneumonia. This facility provided the vaccine to 100 percent of its residents, which is better than the majority of nursing homes. This place was able to keep its patients out of the hospital. It had less than one hospitalization per one thousand long-term resident days, which is a remarkably low number.

We were also surprised to find that this facility received a decent nursing grade this year. We gave it a grade of C in that category. In calculating our nursing scores, we factor in both staffing levels and the levels of licensure of those nurses. This nursing home provided just 0.3 hours of nursing care per patient on a daily basis. This figure is far below average. Despite having low quantities of nursing care, this facility actually fared better in some of the quality-based metrics we assessed. It scored well in terms of avoiding major falls and pressure ulcers. Many consider these areas to be good measures of the quality of nursing care. In many cases, the quality of nursing care is just as important as the quantity of hours of care offered.

The last area we looked at is short-term care. This nursing home received a poor grade of F in this category. In calculating our short-term care ratings, we assess the nursing home's skilled nursing services, such as those performed by registered nurses, occupational therapists, physical therapists and other types of skilled professionals. The objective is to create a barometer for sizing up the rehabilitation services of different facilities. Considering its score in this area, we weren't stunned to discover that this nursing home was well below average in terms of the number of registered nurse and physical therapy hours offered to its patients based on the measures we looked at. Lastly, we assessed the number of patients that were able to return home from this nursing home. This facility didn't fare well here either. In fact, we found that just 3.8 percent of this facility's patients were able to return home.