Van Rensselaer Manor

To go along with its strong overall grade, we awarded this nursing home a grade of A- for our inspections rating. Our inspection ratings account for a host of factors found on a facility's inspection reports. One of the most important criteria we rely on is the quantity and severity of deficiencies. Places with higher scores in this area generally have few severe deficiencies. This particular nursing home had just a single deficiency on its inspection report and it was not one deemed to pose a threat to patient health or safety. Even some of the best nursing homes receive an occasional ding on their inspection report.

This nursing home also received an impressive long-term care score. Indeed, we gave it an above average score of B+ in this area. When facilities receive a score in this range in this category it typically means it has plenty of staff and is an overall good place to reside on a permanent basis. In addition to looking at the quantity of care provided by aids and other staff, we also looked at the number of residents vaccinated against pneumonia. This nursing home administered the vaccine to 99.5992 percent of its patients, which is an impressive figure. Pneumonia can be a deadly ailment for nursing home residents so we strongly prefer when a nursing home doesn't take any chances. Clearly, this facility is doing something right in this area as it was able to keep its patients out of the hospital. In fact, it had less than one hospitalization per one thousand long-term resident days, which is an impressively low number.

This nursing home also received a strong nursing score. In fact, we awarded it an above average grade of B in this area. We looked at the levels of nurses at the nursing home, as well as the number of hours the nurses were with residents, in computing our grade in this area. This particular nursing home provided 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 place the country in this category. This is generally a good indicator of quality nursing care. Pressure ulcers can typically be avoided by providing better nursing care, such as having a policy of moving residents more frequently.

Turning to our fourth category, this facility was awarded an acceptable short-term care score of C. In the area of short-term care, we strive to evaluate measures of a facility's rehabilitation. We look at the nursing home's skilled nursing services, such as those performed by registered nurses and physical, occupational and other therapists. Fortunately, it looks like this facility has registered nurses on staff. Not every nursing home employs these types of nurses. However, based on the information this nursing home provided, they do not appear to employ physical therapists. The final item we assessed in this area is the number of residents who returned home from the facility. We found that just 4.1 percent of this nursing home's residents returned home.