Smoky Mountain Health and Rehabilitation Center
1349 Crabtree Road, Waynesville NC 28785 · (828) 454-9260 · 74.8% estimated occupancy 1Updated: Aug 1, 2020 · By Nick Reese
Smoky Mountain Health and Rehabilitation Center is one of a mere three available nursing homes in Waynesville, North Carolina. This nursing home was awarded an overall grade of B+, which is very favorable grade. In our view, this facility looks like a good fit for quite a few people. The best part of this nursing home's impressive report card was its inspection grade. Inspection grades are discussed in the next section
Additional Details:
Accepts Medicare 1 :
Accepts Medicaid 1 : 50 Beds
CCRC :
For profit - Individual
Resident Council:
Family Council:
Medical Staff Hours Per Patient (2019)
Facility Inspections
To go along with its strong overall grade, we awarded this nursing home a grade of A+ for our inspections rating. We weigh several aspects of a nursing home's inspection report in calculating these inspection scores. One of those factors is health deficiencies. It should be noted that the severity of deficiencies is arguably more meaningful than the number of deficiencies, as some of these end up being relatively minor. While this place had a few deficiencies on its inspection report, none were major deficiencies based on CMS' deficiency scale. The fact that the deficiencies were relatively minor made us feel better about this inspection report.
Short-term Care Quality
In addition, this facility received high marks in the category of short-term care. Consequently, it was given one of our most impressive grades in that category with a grade of A+. In our short-term care grade, we strive to create a meaningful measure for rehabilitation. In doing so, we look at the nursing home's levels of skilled nursing services, including both registered nurses and physical therapy, as well as occupational therapy. This nursing home is markedly above the national average in terms of its quantity of both physical therapy and registered nurse hours offered to its residents. In fact, it provided roughly one and a half times as much care per resident from both of these care providers than the average facility provided. The last statistic 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 performed as well as just about any facility in North Carolina in this area with 58.2 percent of its patients returning home.
Nurse Quality
This facility received a very good nursing grade this year as well. It received one of our better scores in that category with a grade of B. Nursing ratings are based largely on nurse staffing levels. This nursing home provided 3.5 hours of nursing care per patient on a daily basis. At least one fourth of this care was provided by registered nurses, which are skilled nurses. This is a high percentage of skilled nursing. In determining our ratings, we apply more weight to care provided by registered nurses. Lastly, we also factored a few quality measures into our nursing grades. This place was relatively weak in two of the major areas we focus on, with below average scores for minimizing its residents' pressure ulcers and major falls. These areas are generally reliable indicators of the quality of nursing care provided.
Long-term Care Quality
The next category we graded was long-term care, which turned out to be a weak spot for this facility. We awarded this nursing home a D in long-term care, making this the nursing home's worst category grade. We would nevertheless suggest that you look at the bigger picture. In a long-term care setting, the primary goal is to maintain residents' quality of life and keep them safe. In addition to looking at the amount of care provided by aids and other staff, we looked at the number of residents vaccinated for pneumonia. This facility vaccinated 100 percent of its patients. Surprisingly, this facility was able to limit hospitalizations. With only 0.92 hospitalizations per one thousand long-term resident days, this nursing home has less hospitalizations than most nursing homes. Unfortunately, some of its other scores in this category weren't as favorable as these.
Overall Rating Over Time
Compared to national and state averages across all facilities.
Smoky Mountain Health and Rehabilitation Center Quality Metrics
Minimizes Pressure Ulcers
This is the percentage of residents who sustained a pressure ulcer. Pressure ulcers, which are also called bed sores, are routinely caused by patients not being moved frequently enough. Better nursing protocols minimizes the percentage of residents in a nursing home who sustain pressure ulcers.
Percent of Patients with Pressure Ulcers
Lower is Better
Minimizes Serious Falls
This is the percentage of residents who sustained a major fall. Falls leading to major injury are often the result of lower levels of patient supervision. More supervision can limit the percentage of residents in a nursing home who sustain major falls.
Percent of Patients with Serious Falls
Lower is Better
Minimizes Urinary Tract Infections
This is the percentage of residents who sustained a urinary tract infection. These infections are sometimes associated with insufficient hygiene.
Percent of Patients with UTIs
Lower is Better
Appropriately Uses Anti-Psychotic Medication
This statistic measures the percentage of long-term care patients receiving antipsychotic medications. While antipsychotic drugs serve an important medical purpose, it is important to make sure these drugs are being used appropriately. In limited cases, high levels of antipsychotic drug use may mean a nursing home is using these medications to control patient behavior.
Percent of Patients
Lower is Better
Appropriately Uses Anti-Anxiety Medication
This tells you the percent of patients who were given antianxiety drugs. These drugs are commonly prescribed to residents suffering from anxiety or depression.
Percent of Patients
Lower is Better
Managing Depression Among Residents
This indicates the percentage of residents demonstrating depressive symptoms. High levels of depression could be an indicator worse patient care.
Percent of Patients
Lower is Better
Appropriate Vaccine Usage
This tells you the percentage of patients who were given the pneumonia and flu vaccines. High vaccination rates should be the norm at this point.
Percent of Patients
Higher is Better
Residents Maintain Autonomy
This metric is a measure of the percentage of long-term care residents who needed more assistance with activities of daily living over time. ADL's include activities such as dressing and taking a bath.
Percentage of Patients
Lower is Better
Ability to Keep Residents Mobile
This datapoint measures the percent of long-term stay patients who retained mobility levels.
Percentage of Residents
Higher is Better
Hospitalizations
Measures the number of hospitalizations per 1,000 days of patient care.
Hospitalizations per 1,000 resident days
Lower is Better
Short-term Care: Rehospitalizations
This indicates the number of times residents are rehospitalized per 1,000 days of short-term care. There is typically a correlation between reduced hospitalizations and a nursing home's quality of short-term rehabilitation.
Percentage of Residents Rehospitalized
Lower is Better
Short-term Care: ER Visits
This metric is a measure of the number of emergency room visits per thousand days of short-term patient care. Avoiding medical emergencies is one way to assess patient care during rehabilitation.
Percentage of Patients
Lower is Better
Short-term Care: Facilitates Functional Improvement
This indicates the percent of short-term residents who saw functional improvements, such as enhanced ability to perform activities of daily living. High levels of performance with ADL's often correlates with successful rehabilitation services.
Percentage of Resident
Higher is Better