The Hallmark

We also wanted to emphasize that this facility has received excellent inspections in recent years. We awarded them an impressive grade of A in this area. These inspection ratings take several factors into consideration, including deficiencies and substantiated complaints. You can learn more about each of these factors by reviewing copies of nursing homes' inspection reports. Amazingly, this was one of the few nursing homes in the country that had no deficiencies whatsoever on its inspection report. This is very impressive. Finally, this facility had no substantiated complaints this year from residents, which is an excellent sign.

This nursing home also was given a dominant long-term care grade. Indeed, this turned out to be its second best category grade. In that area, we gave this facility a grade of A. Nursing homes that do well in this category tend to be well-staffed and provide extensive hands on care to patients. After considering the amount of care provided by aids and other staff, we turned to the nursing home's vaccination data. This facility vaccinated 100 percent of its residents against pneumonia, which is significantly higher than most nursing homes. Lastly, this place was able to limit hospitalizations. In fact, it had only 0 hospitalizations per one thousand long-term resident days, which is an impressively low number.

This facility also was awarded a fine short-term care score. Indeed, this is this nursing home's third best category grade. In that area, this facility received a grade of A. Short-term care scores are meaningful for prospective residents looking for rehabilitation. Rehabilitation usually mandates higher levels of highly-skilled nursing services. This includes a vast range of nursing services, ranging from registered nurses to physical and speech therapists, as well as other variations of therapy. Fortunately, it looks like this facility has registered nurses on staff. Not all nursing homes employs these skilled professionals. On the other hand, based on the data they provided, it does not look like the facility employs physical therapists. Lastly, we considered the number of patients who were able to return to the community from this facility. We found that 5 percent of this facility's residents returned home.

Turning to our last category, this nursing home received a high-end nursing score. In fact, we awarded it a grade of A- in this category, rounding out a straight A profile. In calculating our nursing grades, we factor in both staffing levels and the training levels of the nurses. This facility provided 0.7 hours of nursing care per resident per day. Lastly, we also factored a few quality-based metrics into our nursing grades. This nursing home was relatively weak in two of the major areas we focus on, with below average scores for minimizing its residents' pressure ulcers and major falls. These areas are generally reliable indicators of the quality of nursing care provided.