Saint Therese at Oxbow Lake

In addition to receiving a great overall grade, this facility also received A+ short-term care grade. In determining our short-term care ratings, we analyze the nursing home's skilled nursing services, including those performed by registered nurses, speech therapists, physical therapists and other types of therapists. The goal is to formulate a tool for sizing up the rehabilitation services of various facilities. This facility excelled at the highest level in the two key staffing areas we looked at. It offered about 50% more care from physical therapists and registered nurses than the average nursing home. This is an excellent sign. The last item we looked at in this category is the percentage of patients who were able to leave the nursing home and return to the community. We found that it fared as well as just about any nursing home in Minnesota in this area with 70.5 percent of its patients returning home.

We also awarded this nursing home a grade of A+ for its long-term care grade. Nursing homes that do well in long-term care tend to provide patients with better supervision and stay on top of routine medical care. In addition to really impressive nursing hour statistics, this nursing home's vaccination data is as good as it gets as well. Indeed, this nursing home vaccinated 97.81421 percent of its residents for pneumonia. This combination proved to be effective as this facility also excelled at keeping its residents out of the hospital. In fact, it had only 1 hospitalizations per one thousand long-term resident days, which is a significantly better hospitalization rate than most nursing homes.

Adding to its strong resume, this facility also received an excellent nursing score, with a grade of A. Nursing ratings are based in large part on levels of nurse staffing. This nursing home provides an incredible 5.2 hours of nursing care per patient per day. Out of that total, many of those hours were provided by registered nurses, which is one of the most highly highly trained levels of nurses. On top of offering impressive levels of nursing care, this facility also excelled in several of the quality measures we looked at. With below five percent of its residents suffering from pressure ulcers, it performed as well as any facility Minnesota in this category. This is generally a good indicator that a place has reliable quality controls in place. Many pressure ulcers can be prevented by offering better nursing care and having a system of turning patients more often.

Lastly, this facility also received a nearly flawless inspection. As a result, it received one of our highest grades in that category with an A. With this impressive grade, this place is one of the few nursing homes in Minnesota to receive straight A's. Inspection scores account for several factors included in a nursing home's inspection report. One key criteria we consider is the quantity and severity of deficiencies. Places with better grades in this area generally have few severe deficiencies. While this place had some minor dings on its report, it had zero severe deficiencies. Severe deficiencies are those labeled as categories G, H, I, J, K and L. This tells you that the inspectors didn't consider any of the deficiencies on this facility's report to pose an imminent threat to patient safety or health. Finally, this facility had no substantiated complaints this year from residents, which is an excellent sign.