Sunshine Gardens
East 10410 Ninth Avenue, Spokane WA 99206 · (509) 926-3547 · 90.71% estimated occupancy 1Updated: Aug 1, 2020 · By Nick Reese
Sunshine Gardens is in the large metropolitan area of Spokane, Washington. Sporting an overall rating of B+, we deemed this nursing home to be one of the three highest graded nursing homes in Spokane. Overall scores in this range are a reliable indication of a very solid facility. Based on our assessment, this place looks like a good fit for most people. We were also pleased to find that this facility did not have any poor grades in any of the major categories discussed below. Additional information about its category grades is available below.
Additional Details:
Accepts Medicare 1 :
Accepts Medicaid 1 : 84 Beds
CCRC :
For profit - Individual
Resident Council:
Family Council:
Medical Staff Hours Per Patient (2019)
Short-term Care Quality
To pair with its strong overall grade, we awarded this nursing home a grade of A+ for its nursing grade. In our short-term care score, we attempt to craft a sound gauge for rehabilitation services. In doing so, we analyze the facility's scope of skilled nursing services, including both registered nurses and physical therapy, as well as speech therapy. This facility excelled in two key staffing areas we assessed. It offered about 50% more care from physical therapists and registered nurses than the average facility. This is definitely an encouraging sign. The last datapoint we assessed in this category is the number of residents that ultimately were able to return home from the facility. We found that it fared as well as just about any facility in Washington in this area with 68.6 percent of its patients returning home. Unfortunately, at most nursing homes, fewer than half of their short-stay residents are able to return home.
Nurse Quality
Adding to this nursing home's list of strengths, it also received an excellent nursing grade. We awarded them an impressive grade of A in this category. In calculating our nursing scores, we factor in both staffing levels and the skill levels of those nurses. This facility provided 4.4 hours of nursing care per resident per day, which is among the more impressive figures in the country. A significant portion of those hours were provided by registered nurses, which are one of the most highly skilled levels of nurses. We are very impressed by both of these statistics. On top of providing impressive levels of nursing care, this place also performed well in several of the quality measures we looked at. By way of illustration, in terms of the percentage of its residents suffering falls leading to major injury, this nursing home performed as well as any nursing home the nation. Avoiding major falls is generally an indicator that a nursing home has quality controls in place. Major falls can generally be avoided if more nurses aids and better safety protocols are in place.
Facility Inspections
This facility received a solid inspection report this year as well, with few dings from the applicable government inspectors. As a result, it earned one of our better grades in that category with a score of B-. We weigh several aspects of a nursing home's inspection report in calculating these inspection grades. One critical factor is health deficiencies. It should be noted that the severity of the deficiencies is arguably more meaningful than the quantity of deficiencies, as some are quite minor. This facility was assessed 9 deficiencies on its inspection report, but we were relieved to see that none of the deficiencies were considered to be severe deficiencies. This indicates that the inspectors didn't consider any of the deficiencies to be an immediate risk to patient health or safety. The fact that none of the deficiencies were severe made us feel better about this inspection report.
Long-term Care Quality
The next area we looked at was long-term care, in which this facility was awarded a grade of B-. Even though this is its least impressive category rating, this is still a middle of the pack score. Long-term care grades are typically used to assess a nursing home's performance as a traditional convalescent home, as opposed to focusing on the skilled nursing services provided by a rehabilitation facility. On top of looking at the above average quantity of care provided by nurses aids and other staff at this facility, we also were happy with the facility's vaccination statistics. This nursing home provided the pneumonia vaccine to 98.81657 percent of its residents, which is very respectable. This combination proved to be successful as this place was able to keep its residents out of the hospital. In fact, it had less than one hospitalization per 1,000 long-term resident days, which is a remarkably low figure.
Overall Rating Over Time
Compared to national and state averages across all facilities.
Sunshine Gardens Quality Metrics
Minimizes Pressure Ulcers
This measures the percent of long-term residents that have new or worsened pressure ulcers or bed sores. We factor in this statistic in computing both nursing and long-term care grades.
Percent of Patients with Pressure Ulcers
Lower is Better
Minimizes Serious Falls
This metric is an indication of the percent of long-term care residents who suffered falls which caused serious injury. Falls can arise for a variety of reasons, but high rates of falls resulting in injuries may be a sign of lower levels of patient supervision.
Percent of Patients with Serious Falls
Lower is Better
Minimizes Urinary Tract Infections
This tells you the percent of patients that suffered from a urinary tract infection. UTI's are considered by many experts to be a barometer of nursing care . UTI's are often associated with a facility with lower levels of hygiene. However, this datapoint may be misleading for certain facilities due to different reporting standards for infections.
Percent of Patients with UTIs
Lower is Better
Appropriately Uses Anti-Psychotic Medication
This indicates the percentage of residents who were given antipsychotic drugs. While antipsychotic medications may be vital to many patients, it is important to ensure these medications are being used appropriately. In some cases, high levels of antipsychotic drug use may mean that a facility is using these medications to control patient behavior.
Percent of Patients
Lower is Better
Appropriately Uses Anti-Anxiety Medication
This metric gauges the percent of long-term residents who are prescribed antianxiety drugs. These medications are prescribed to patients experiencing anxiety and depression.
Percent of Patients
Lower is Better
Managing Depression Among Residents
This metric is a measure of the percent of long-term stay patients exhibiting depressive symptoms.
Percent of Patients
Lower is Better
Appropriate Vaccine Usage
This metric measures the percent of long-term patients who received the flu and pneumonia vaccines.
Percent of Patients
Higher is Better
Residents Maintain Autonomy
Measures the percent of long-term care patients that needed more assistance with activities of daily living over time. ADL's include activities such as getting dressed and eating.
Percentage of Patients
Lower is Better
Ability to Keep Residents Mobile
This metric measures the percent of long-term patients who remained mobile levels. Some argue that the ability to move around is important for patients mental and physical health.
Percentage of Residents
Higher is Better
Short-term Care: Rehospitalizations
This is the number of rehospitalizations per thousand days of short-term care. There is generally a correlation between keeping patients out of the hospital and a nursing homes short-term rehabilitation performance.
Percentage of Residents Rehospitalized
Lower is Better
Short-term Care: ER Visits
This metric measures the number of times residents are sent to the emergency room per thousand days of short-term patient care. Avoiding medical emergencies is one way to measure patient well-being during rehabilitation.
Percentage of Patients
Lower is Better
Short-term Care: Facilitates Functional Improvement
This indicates the percent of short-term stay residents that experienced functional improvements, such as enhanced ability to perform activities of daily living. Higher levels of independence with activities of daily living often correlates with better rehabilitation.
Percentage of Resident
Higher is Better