South Loln Nursing Center

To pair with its strong overall grade, we awarded this nursing home a grade of A+ for its nursing grade. Long-term care scores of this caliber generally require both 24/7 care from nurses and aids, as well as quality routine medical care. Once we assessed the volume of care provided by aids and other staff, we then analyzed the nursing home's vaccination data. This facility vaccinated 100 percent of its residents against pneumonia. Vaccines are vital to keeping residents out of the hospital. Finally, this facility was able to limit hospitalizations. In fact, it had less than one hospitalization per one thousand long-term resident days, which is a remarkably low number.

This nursing home also received an A+ for its nursing grade. Nursing grades are primarily tied to the nursing home's level of nurse staffing. This nursing home averages 0.5 hours of nursing care per resident per day. Finally, our nursing grades also factor in quality-based assessments, such as avoiding major falls. This nursing home 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 often be avoided if more nurses aids and better safety protocols are in place.

This facility also earned a nearly flawless inspection report. As a result, it received one of our best grades in that category with a score of A. Inspection ratings are tied to several items found on the a nursing home's recent inspection reports. Nursing homes that receive favorable grades in this area typically have very few deficiencies on those reports. Most importantly, these nursing homes generally do not have any severe deficiencies which are associated with risks to patient safety. This place was assessed 4 deficiencies on its inspection report, but none of the deficiencies were considered severe. This tells you that CMS did not deem any of these deficiencies to create an immediate risk to resident safety or health. Finally, this facility had no substantiated complaints this year from residents, which is an excellent sign.

Switching gears to the next category, this facility received an extremely favorable short-term care rating. We gave it an A- in this area, resulting in this facility receiving straight A's. In calculating our short-term care ratings, we look at a nursing home's levels of skilled nursing services, which includes registered nurses, physical therapists speech therapists and other licensed professionals. This rating is typically a solid measure of the nursing home's ability to rehabilitate patients. Fortunately, it appear that this facility has registered nurses on staff. Not every facility employs these types of nurses. On the other hand, according to the information they provided, it does not look like the facility employs physical therapists. Lastly, we looked at the number of patients who were able to return home from this nursing home. We found that 0 percent of this facility's residents returned home.