The Arboretum at the Woodlands

One of the many reasons this turned out to be a quality nursing home is that it received an A+ inspection grade. This is simply as good as it gets in this critical category. Perhaps the most critical factor we consider in determining our inspection ratings is deficiencies. These deficiencies can be found on a nursing home's recent inspection reports. Places with higher grades in this area most likely dodged the more severe deficiencies involving health risks or even death. We weren't able to locate deficiency counts for this nursing home. Finally, this facility had no substantiated complaints this year from residents, which is an excellent sign.

In addition, this nursing home received strong marks in the category of short-term care. As a result, it received one of our most impressive grades in that category with a score of A+. In the area of short-term care, we attempt to qualify indicators of a facility's rehabilitation services. We assess the facility's skilled nursing services, including the ones performed by registered nurses and physical therapists. Fortunately, it looks like this nursing home has registered nurses on staff. Not every nursing home employs these types of nurses. On the other hand, according to the data they provided, they do not appear to employ physical therapists. The final statistic we looked at in this area is the number of patients who returned home from the nursing home. We found that 6.9 percent of this nursing home's residents returned home as opposed to remaining at the nursing home on a permanent basis.

Compounding its first-rate assessment, this facility also was given a superb long-term care score, with a grade of A. Nursing homes that receive this kind of score in this category tend to provide consistent around the clock care to make sure patients are kept in good health. In addition to considering the amount of care provided by nurses aids and other staff, we also looked at the percentage of residents vaccinated against pneumonia. This facility administered the vaccine to 100 percent of its residents, which is very impressive. Pneumonia is too frequently a deadly health condition for nursing home patients so we like it when a facility does not leave its residents vulnerable. Lastly, this place was able to limit hospitalizations. In fact, it had only 0.02 hospitalizations per 1,000 long-term resident days, which is an impressively low number.

In our last area, this nursing home also was given a first-rate nursing score, with an A-. This wrapped up a very impressive profile. Nursing grades are primarily associated with the nursing home's nurse staffing. This nursing home averages 0.6 hours of nursing care per resident per day. Finally, we also assessed several nursing quality-based metrics and this place excelled in some of these areas. With less than five percent of its residents sustaining pressure ulcers, it performed as well as any place South Carolina in this category. This is generally a good indicator of quality nursing care. Pressure ulcers can often be prevented by providing better nursing care, such as by employing a policy of turning patients more often.