St. Elizabeth Florence Skilled Nursing Facility

In addition to being a great overall grade, this facility also received A+ health inspections in recent years. Its inspections were virtually flawless. Inspection grades account for several factors found on a facility's inspection report. One of the most important criteria we consider is the quantity and severity of deficiencies. Nursing homes with better scores in this category typically have few severe deficiencies. This particular nursing home had just a single deficiency on its inspection report and it was not one deemed to pose a threat to patient health or safety. Finally, this facility had no substantiated complaints this year from residents, which is an excellent sign.

This facility also received an A+ short-term care grade, making it one of the few facilities to receive several A+ category scores. In determining our short-term care ratings, we analyze the nursing home's skilled nursing services, including those performed by registered nurses, occupational therapists, physical therapists and other types of therapists. The purpose is to formulate a scale for comparing the rehabilitation services of nursing homes. Fortunately, it appear that this facility employs registered nurses. Not all nursing homes employs these skilled professionals. On the other hand, according to the information they provided, they do not appear to employ physical therapists. Lastly, we looked at the number of patients who were able to return to the community from this nursing home. We found that 7.3 percent of this nursing home's residents returned home.

This nursing home also received a very impressive nursing grade. In that area, we awarded this facility a grade of A. Our nursing rating considers several subcategories. The most important factor is the quantity of hours nurses spend with patients. This nursing home averages 0.6 hours of nursing care per resident per day. Finally, our nursing grades also factor in quality-based assessments, such as avoiding major falls. This place 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 generally be prevented if more nurses aids and better safety protocols are in place.

In the final area, we gave this nursing home an A+ for its long-term care score. This finished off a very strong report card. Facilities that receive this type of grade in long-term care typically provide consistent around the clock care to ensure residents are well cared for. Once we assessed the volume of care provided by nurses and other staff, we turned to the facility's vaccination data. Unfortunately, it doesn't look like this facility submitted data regarding vaccinations. Clearly, this nursing home is doing something right in this area as it was able to keep its residents out of the hospital. In fact, it had only 0 hospitalizations per one thousand long-term resident days, which is a remarkably low number.