Saluda Nursing Center

Although we gave this facility a bad overall rating, we awarded it a fairly respectable grade in the area of inspections, where we gave it a grade of B-. This was better than its other categories. We believe that one of the most critical factors in evaluating an inspection report is deficiencies. In this regard, we especially look at the severity of the deficiencies. This particular nursing home received 2 deficiencies on its inspection report. Another area of concern is that CMS flagged this nursing home for possible abuse or neglect. This is not what you want to see. We advise you to direct your search elsewhere.

We also want to point out that this facility received a decent grade in our nursing category. We awarded it a grade of B- in the area. In calculating a nursing home's nursing rating, we consider the amount of time nurses are with patients and the level of skill of those nurses. This facility provided just 0.4 hours of nursing care per patient each day. This is a relatively low total compared with most other facilities. Despite having low quantities of nursing care, this facility actually fared better in some of the quality-based metrics we assessed. In fact, it performed well in terms of minimizing its residents' pressure ulcers and major falls. We consider these areas to be good measures of the quality of nursing care. In many cases, the quality of nursing care is every bit as important as the number of hours of care provided.

The third best category we awarded this nursing home in any area came in the category of short-term care, where we gave it a grade of B-. In computing our short-term care grades, we analyze the nursing home's levels of highly skilled nursing, which includes registered nurses, physical therapists occupational therapists and other highly skilled individuals. This area is generally a meaningful measure of a facility's rehabilitation services. Unfortunately, this nursing home was below average in terms of its quantity of registered nurse and physical therapy hours provided to its residents based on the metrics we assessed. The question is whether this adversely affected quality of care. Finally, we considered the percentage of residents who were able to return to the community from this facility. We found that 4.5 percent of this facility's patients returned home. At most nursing homes, closer to half of their patients are able to return home so this figure is below average.

Moving on to our final category, this facility was given an acceptable long-term care grade of B-. Long-term care scores are crucial for prospective residents requiring personal care. In addition to assessing the quantity of care provided by nurses aids and other staff, we also looked at the percentage of residents vaccinated against pneumonia. This nursing home administered the vaccine to 98.41828 percent of its residents, which is higher than the majority of nursing homes. Finally, this place was also able to limit hospitalizations. It had only 0.01 hospitalizations per one thousand long-term resident days, which is a remarkably low number.