Southern Springs Healthcare Facility
745 Southern Springs Road, Union Springs AL 36089 · (334) 738-5590 · 89.51% estimated occupancy 1Updated: Aug 1, 2020 · By Nick Lata
Southern Springs Healthcare Facility is a large facility located in Union Springs, Alabama. This nursing home received an A- overall, which is a very strong rating. In our view, this place is a no brainer for just about anybody. This nursing home's strong report card was highlighted by its inspection grade, which we will address in the next section.
Additional Details:
Accepts Medicare 1 :
Accepts Medicaid 1 : 123 Beds
CCRC :
For profit - Corporation
Resident Council:
Family Council:
Medical Staff Hours Per Patient (2019)
Facility Inspections
In addition to being a great overall grade, this facility also received A+ health inspections in recent years. Its inspections were virtually flawless. We weigh several aspects of a nursing home's inspection report in determining our inspection grades. One critical factor is deficiencies. It should be noted that the severity of the deficiencies is arguably more important than the number of deficiencies, as some deficiencies end up being relatively minor. This nursing home was assessed 2 deficiencies on its inspection report, but fortunately none of the deficiencies were considered to be severe deficiencies. This indicates that CMS didn't deem any of these deficiencies an immediate risk to patient safety or health. Finally, this facility had no substantiated complaints this year from residents, which is an excellent sign.
Long-term Care Quality
Adding to its impressive assessments in other areas, we awarded this facility a score of A for its long-term care score. For residents looking for a permanent place to live rather than rehabilitation, long-term care grades are very important. This facility's vaccination records were not as strong as its number of nursing hours per resident. It gave the pneumonia vaccine to just 73.871735 percent of its residents. We would love to see some improvement in this area in the future. This facility was also able to keep its patients out of the hospital. In fact, it had only 1.52 hospitalizations per one thousand long-term resident days.
Nurse Quality
This nursing home also received a strong nursing score. In fact, we awarded it an above average grade of B+ in this area. Nursing scores are primarily based on the nursing home's level of nurse staffing. With 4.2 hours of nursing care per resident per day, this nursing home surpassed the overwhelming majority of facilities. Finally, this nursing home also excelled in the quality-based metrics we looked at. It performed as well as any nursing home the country when it comes to avoiding pressure ulcers and major falls.
Short-term Care Quality
The final area we analyzed was short-term care, in which this facility received a C. While this turned out to be its weakest category score, this is still not a poor grade. In crafting our short-term care scores, we analyze the facility's skilled nursing services, including those performed by registered nurses, speech therapists, physical therapists and other types of therapists. The objective is to devise a barometer for sizing up the rehabilitation services of different nursing homes. This nursing home employs both physical therapists and registered nurses. Not all facilities employ these skilled professionals. Finally, we looked at the number of residents who were able to return to the community from this facility. This proved to be more of a strength for this facility. In fact, we found that it outperformed the majority of facilities in this area with 53.8 percent of its residents returning home. This is a higher rate than most facilities.
Overall Rating Over Time
Compared to national and state averages across all facilities.
Southern Springs Healthcare Facility Quality Metrics
Minimizes Pressure Ulcers
This indicates the percentage of patients that have had a pressure ulcer. Pressure ulcers, which are also referred to as bed sores, are often caused by residents staying in one position for too long. Better nursing care can reduce the number of pressure ulcers sustained by residents in a nursing home.
Percent of Patients with Pressure Ulcers
Lower is Better
Minimizes Serious Falls
This tells you the percentage of residents that suffered from a major fall. Falls leading to severe injuries are routinely associated with poor nursing care. Additional nurse staffing can minimize the number of major falls sustained by residents in a nursing home.
Percent of Patients with Serious Falls
Lower is Better
Minimizes Urinary Tract Infections
This metric is a measure of the percent of long-term care patients who have suffered from urinary tract infections. UTI's may be an indicator of worse hygiene protocols. Nevertheless, this datapoint can also be misleading for certain facilities due to varying reporting standards for these infections.
Percent of Patients with UTIs
Lower is Better
Appropriately Uses Anti-Psychotic Medication
This is an indication of the percent of long-term stay patients taking antipsychotic drugs. While antipsychotic medications play an important role in caring for many residents, it is important to confirm these drugs are being used appropriately. In some cases, excessive reliance on these medications may indicate that a facility is using these drugs to subdue residents.
Percent of Patients
Lower is Better
Appropriately Uses Anti-Anxiety Medication
This figure indicates the percent of long-term care residents receiving antianxiety drugs.
Percent of Patients
Lower is Better
Managing Depression Among Residents
This indicates the percent of residents showing symptoms of depression.
Percent of Patients
Lower is Better
Appropriate Vaccine Usage
This datapoint measures the percent of long-term care residents who were administered the flu and pneumonia vaccines. Respiratory viruses can be very dangerous for nursing home patients, making these vaccines critical to patient well-being.
Percent of Patients
Higher is Better
Residents Maintain Autonomy
This tells you the percent of patients who required increased assistance with activities of daily living over time. High levels of needing for assistance with ADL's may indicate deterioration of a resident's well-being.
Percentage of Patients
Lower is Better
Ability to Keep Residents Mobile
This indicates the percent of residents that retained mobility levels over time. Retaining mobility can be a great sign for residents' well-being.
Percentage of Residents
Higher is Better
Hospitalizations
This tells you the number of times residents are hospitalized per 1,000 days of care.
Hospitalizations per 1,000 resident days
Lower is Better
Short-term Care: Rehospitalizations
This metric measures the number of times residents are rehospitalized per 1,000 days of short-term resident care. Staying out of the hospital during rehabilitation is critical to restoring the health of patients.
Percentage of Residents Rehospitalized
Lower is Better
Short-term Care: ER Visits
This indicates the number of emergency room visits per thousand days of short-term care. There is generally a correlation between having fewer emergency room visits and the overall quality of rehabilitation.
Percentage of Patients
Lower is Better
Short-term Care: Facilitates Functional Improvement
This is the percentage of short-term care residents who experienced functional improvements, such as with activities of daily living.
Percentage of Resident
Higher is Better