Tarpon Bayou Center

In addition to performing well in its overall grade, this facility performed at an even higher level in the area of inspections. In fact, it received a nearly flawless inspection report this year. As a result, it received one of our highest grades in that category with a score of A+. Perhaps the most important factor we consider in computing our inspection scores is deficiencies. These deficiencies can be found on a nursing home's inspection reports. Places with better scores in this category typically dodged the more severe deficiencies involving patient abuse or death. Fortunately, although this facility had a few minor dings on its inspection report, it had zero severe deficiencies. Severe deficiencies are ones found in categories G through L. This tells you that CMS didn't consider any of the deficiencies on this facility's report to pose an imminent threat to patient health or safety. We should point out that deficiency-free inspections are rare in the industry.

Contributing to its profile, this facility also earned a score of B for its long-term care rating. This is an above average score in this category. Facilities that excel in this category typically are well-staffed and offer extensive hands on care to patients. After assessing the amount of care provided by aids and other staff, we then analyzed the facility's vaccination statistics. This facility vaccinated 98.62069 percent of its patients for pneumonia, which is much higher than the vast majority of nursing homes. The last statistic we assessed is the nursing home's hospitalization rate. While it had 2.3 hospitalizations per 1,000 long-term resident days, its risk adjusted score was close to the middle of the pack due to it having more complex patients.

Another one of this facility's impressive category grades came in the area of nursing care. We awarded them one of our better scores in that area, with a grade of B. When determining our nursing scores, we analyze both nursing hours and the skill levels of the nurses. This nursing home averages 3.6 hours of nursing care per resident per day. Lastly, we also assessed certain nursing quality-based metrics in computing our nursing grades. These include minimizing residents' pressure ulcers and major falls. We look at these metrics as reliable measures of the quality of nursing care being provided, since better care tends to reduce these problems.

The final area we graded is short-term care. This facility was awarded a C in the category. In our short-term care category, we attempt to forge a valuable barometer for rehabilitation services. In this process, we assess a nursing home's levels of skilled nursing services, including both registered nurses and physical therapy, as well as speech therapy. This facility is above the national average in terms of its quantity of both physical therapy and registered nurse staffing provided to its residents. Lastly, we looked at the number of residents that ultimately returned home from this facility. We found that 31.5 percent of this facility's patients were able to return home. This figure was actually below the national average.