Sterling Manor

This nursing home's overall grade was helped by a strong long-term care grade. We awarded them one of our higher grades in that category, with a B. This is a much better grade than its overall grade. Long-term care scores in this range generally require both 24/7 care from nurses and aids, as well as quality routine healthcare services. On top of looking at the quantity of care provided by nurses and other staff, we analyzed the number of residents vaccinated for pneumonia. This facility gave the vaccine to 100 percent of its patients, which is an impressive figure. Pneumonia can be a deadly health condition for nursing home residents so we strongly prefer when a nursing home doesn't leave this to chance. Lastly, this place was able to limit hospitalizations. It had only 0.03 hospitalizations per 1,000 long-term resident days, which is a remarkably low figure.

This nursing home was awarded its next most favorable category grade in the category of short-term care. We awarded this nursing home a grade of B- in this area, which is a respectable score. In determining these short-term care scores, we look at the nursing home's skilled nursing services, such as those performed by registered nurses, occupational therapists, physical therapists and other types of therapists. Our goal is to devise a measure for sizing up the rehabilitation services of various nursing homes. Unfortunately, we found that this nursing home provided fewer registered nurse and physical therapist hours per resident than most other facilities. The key is determining what bearing this had on the quality of care. Finally, we assessed the number of patients who were able to return to the community from this nursing home. We found that 0 percent of this facility's residents returned home. At most nursing homes, closer to half of their patients are able to return home so this figure is below average.

This nursing home received a solid inspection report this year as well, with few dings from the applicable government inspectors. As a result, it received one of our better grades in that category with a score of B-. Inspection ratings are based on many items found on the a nursing home's recent inspection reports. Deficiencies are a key item to look for on these reports. Severe deficiencies indicate a threat to the well being of residents. This place was assessed 3 deficiencies on its inspection report, but we were relieved to see that none of the deficiencies were considered to be severe deficiencies. This tells you that the government inspectors did not consider any of the deficiencies to cause an imminent threat to resident safety or health. A few minor deficiencies should not lead you to cross a nursing home off your list.

The final category we graded is nursing, which ended up being this facility's weakest category. We awarded this facility a grade of D in this area. Our nursing rating considers many data points. The most important factor is the amount of time nurses spend with residents. This facility averaged a meager 0.3 hours of nursing care per resident daily. On top of receiving below average marks for total nursing hours, this place was a bit less impressive in some of the quality-based metrics we looked at in calculating our nursing grades. We looked at the percent of residents experiencing pressure ulcers and found that this place was at roughly 1.5 times the national average in this metric. This is a bad sign when you consider that many bed sores are preventable with better nursing care. Unfortunately, this statistic pulled down this nursing home's nursing grade significantly.