Sweet Springs Villa

While we did not have many favorable things to say about this facility's overall score, it did receive a respectable nursing rating of B-. Our nursing grade assesses the facility's nurse staffing levels. We weigh both the levels of skill of those nurses and the amount of time spent with patients. This facility provided just 0.4 hours of nursing care per resident per day. This is a relatively low total compared to most other facilities. Lastly, although this facility got dinged a bit for nursing hours, it actually excelled in a few of our quality-based metrics. With less than five percent of its residents suffering from pressure ulcers, it did well in this metric.

One of this facility's more respectable category grades came in the area of short-term care. This wound up being its second most respectable category. In that category, we gave this facility a B-. Our short-term care ratings are thought to be most meaningful for those requiring rehabilitation services. Rehabilitation typically mandates additional skilled nursing services. Skilled nursing includes not only nursing services, but also physical and occupational therapy, as well as other types of therapy. Unfortunately, we found that this place provided fewer physical therapist and registered nurse hours per resident than most other facilities. The last statistic we assessed in this area is the number of residents that ultimately returned home from the facility. We found that just 0 percent of this facility's residents returned home.

The next highest area we gave this nursing home in any category came in the category of long-term care, where we awarded it a C. For long-term care residents, the nursing home's primary objective is to keep patients as healthy and safe as possible. This is different than skilled nursing or short-term care where the goal is to rehabilitate residents. On top of considering the amount of care provided by aids and other staff, we analyzed the number of residents vaccinated for pneumonia. This nursing home gave the vaccine to just 74.23077 percent of its residents, which is well below average. Nevertheless, this nursing home was able to keep its patients out of the hospital. Indeed, it had less than one hospitalization per 1,000 long-term resident days, which is a remarkably low figure.

The final category we looked at was inspections. This score is based on the facility's recent inspections. We awarded it a C in this category. Inspection grades take several factors into consideration, including deficiencies, substantiated complaints and federal fines. You can learn more about each of these factors by obtaining copies of nursing homes' inspection reports. This nursing home was assessed 8 deficiencies on its inspection report, but we were relieved to find that none were in categories J through L. This tells you inspectors did not consider any of the deficiencies to put patient health or safety in immediate harm or jeopardy. Another red flag is that CMS cited this nursing home for possible abuse or neglect. Hopefully, its performance improves in the future, but until then we simply can't recommend this facility.