The Pillars of Biloxi

One of the reasons this proved to be a decent facility is it received a very favorable inspection grade. In that area, we gave this nursing home a grade of B+. We take several aspects of a facility's inspection report into consideration in determining these inspection grades. One key factor is deficiencies. It should be noted that the severity of these deficiencies is usually more important than the number of deficiencies, as some deficiencies end up being quite minor. Fortunately, although this place had a few minor dings on its report, it had zero severe deficiencies. Severe deficiencies are those labeled as categories G, H, I, J, K and L. This tells you the government inspectors did not deem any of the deficiencies on this facility's report to pose an imminent threat to patient health or safety. The fact that the deficiencies were relatively minor made us feel better about this inspection report.

One of the other reasons we graded this nursing home so highly is that it earned a very impressive nursing grade. In that area, we awarded this nursing home a grade of B. There are several datapoints included in this grade. Many of the subcategories reflect nurse staffing. This nursing home averages 0.3 hours of nursing care per resident per day. Finally, we also assessed several nursing quality-based metrics and this nursing home excelled in some of these areas. With less than five percent of its residents sustaining pressure ulcers, it performed as well as any nursing home the country in this category. This is generally a good indicator of quality nursing care. Pressure ulcers can generally be prevented by offering better nursing care, such as having a protocol of turning a patient more frequently.

This facility was given its next most favorable category grade in the category of long-term care. We gave this facility a B- in this area, which is an acceptable grade. Long-term care grades are based on a nursing home's volume of nursing care. This includes a vast scope of personal care services, ranging from assistance with activities of daily living to routine medical services. In addition to looking at the quantity of care provided by nurses and other staff, we also looked at the number of residents vaccinated against pneumonia. This facility administered the vaccine to 100 percent of its residents, which is more than the majority of nursing homes. This nursing home also excelled at keeping its residents out of the hospital. It had only 0.03 hospitalizations per one thousand long-term resident days, which is a remarkably low figure.

The last area we analyzed was short-term care. This facility was given a grade of C for this area. In our short-term care rating, we seek to craft a valuable gauge for rehabilitation. In doing so, we look at the facility's offerings of highly-skilled nursing services, including both registered nurses and physical therapy, as well as respiratory therapy. Fortunately, it appear that this facility employs registered nurses. Not all nursing homes employs these types of nurses. On the other hand, according to the data this nursing home provided, it does not look like the facility employs physical therapists. The final item we looked at in this area is the number of residents who ultimately were able to return home from the nursing home. We found that just 4.6 percent of this nursing home's patients returned home. This figure was below average.