Wachusett Manor
32 Hospital Hill Road, Gardner MA 01440 · (978) 632-5477 · 86.14% estimated occupancy 1Updated: Aug 1, 2020 · By Nick Lata
Wachusett Manor is an average-sized facility located in Gardner, Massachusetts. We awarded this nursing home an overall grade of B+. A grade of this caliber requires strong marks in most areas. Based on all of the relevant data, you can do much worse than this place. This nursing home is better in some categories than others, but it did not have any bad scores in any of our four major categories. More information about these categories can be found below.
Additional Details:
Accepts Medicare 1 :
Accepts Medicaid 1 : 96 Beds
CCRC :
For profit - Corporation
Resident Council:
Family Council:
Medical Staff Hours Per Patient (2019)
Nurse Quality
On top of earning a strong overall grade, this facility performed well in our nursing category. In fact, we gave it a grade of A for that category, which is one of our highest scores. Our nursing score is based on a host of subcategories. The most important variable is the quantity of hours nurses spend with residents. This particular nursing home provided 3.7 hours of nursing care per resident per day. Finally, our nursing grades also factor in quality-based assessments, such as avoiding major falls. This facility performed better than average in this area. This is often a good indicator that a nursing home has reliable quality controls in place. Major falls can frequently be prevented if more nurses aids and better safety protocols are in place.
Facility Inspections
This facility also excelled in the area of inspections. We awarded it an A for that category. Our inspection grades are tied to items located in the a nursing home's inspections. Nursing homes that score well in this area typically have very few deficiencies on those reports. Most importantly, these nursing homes should not have any severe deficiencies which are associated with risks to patient safety. Although this nursing home had some deficiencies on its government inspection report, none were serious based on CMS' scale. The fact that the deficiencies were relatively minor leaves us less concerned with this inspection report.
Short-term Care Quality
This facility is also above average in the area of short-term care, where it received a score of B+. It performed more favorably than most nursing homes in this area. In the area of short-term care, we try to assess indicators of a nursing home's rehabilitation services. We look at a facility's skilled nursing services, including those performed by registered nurses and physical and occupational therapists. This nursing home employs both physical therapists and registered nurses. Not all facilities employ these skilled professionals. Lastly, we considered the percentage of residents that eventually returned home from this facility. This place fared better than most facilities with 54 percent of its residents returning home.
Long-term Care Quality
The final category we graded is long-term care, where this facility was awarded a B-. This actually turned out to be this nursing home's weakest area. This is still not a poor grade. Our long-term care ratings are critical for individuals requiring personal care. On top of assessing the quantity of care provided by nurses and other staff, we analyzed the number of residents vaccinated against pneumonia. Fortunately, this facility gave the vaccine to 98.17518 percent of its residents, which is a very solid datapoint. This facility was able to keep its residents out of the hospital. Indeed, it had only 0.53 hospitalizations per 1,000 long-term resident days, which is a remarkably low number.
Overall Rating Over Time
Compared to national and state averages across all facilities.
Wachusett Manor Quality Metrics
Minimizes Pressure Ulcers
This is the percentage of patients that suffered from a pressure ulcer. Pressure ulcers, which are also known as bed sores, are often caused by patients not being moved frequently enough. Better nursing care limits the number of pressure ulcers sustained by residents in a nursing home.
Percent of Patients with Pressure Ulcers
Lower is Better
Minimizes Serious Falls
This figure tells you the percentage of long-term patients who have suffered falls resulting in serious injury. This is one of the statistics we use in calculating our nursing scores.
Percent of Patients with Serious Falls
Lower is Better
Minimizes Urinary Tract Infections
This is the percentage of residents who have had a urinary tract infection. These infections are sometimes associated with poorer hygiene.
Percent of Patients with UTIs
Lower is Better
Appropriately Uses Anti-Psychotic Medication
This is the percent of residents given antipsychotic medications. Antipsychotic medications are prescribed to residents for a variety of medical conditions, such as cognitive disorders. Tragically, in some cases, increased usage of these drugs may suggest that a facility is using these drugs to control patient behavior.
Percent of Patients
Lower is Better
Appropriately Uses Anti-Anxiety Medication
This indicates the percentage of long-term stay patients taking antianxiety drugs.
Percent of Patients
Lower is Better
Managing Depression Among Residents
This datapoint measures the percent of long-term patients demonstrating depressive symptoms.
Percent of Patients
Lower is Better
Appropriate Vaccine Usage
Measures the percent of long-term stay residents who have received the pneumonia and flu vaccines. Respiratory viruses can be fatal for seniors, making these vaccines vital to patient safety.
Percent of Patients
Higher is Better
Residents Maintain Autonomy
This indicates the percent of residents who required additional assistance with activities of daily living over time. High levels of dependence on staff for assistance with ADL's may be a sign of erosion of a resident's health.
Percentage of Patients
Lower is Better
Ability to Keep Residents Mobile
This metric is a measure of the percentage of long-term residents who remained mobile levels.
Percentage of Residents
Higher is Better
Hospitalizations
This metric tracks the number of hospitalizations per thousand days of patient care. Avoiding hospitalizations is critical to preserving the physical health of nursing home residents.
Hospitalizations per 1,000 resident days
Lower is Better
Short-term Care: Rehospitalizations
This metric tracks the number of rehospitalizations per 1,000 days of short-term care. Avoiding rehospitalizations during rehabilitation is important to restoring the physical abilities of residents.
Percentage of Residents Rehospitalized
Lower is Better
Short-term Care: ER Visits
Measures the number of emergency room visits per thousand days of short-term care. Avoiding medical emergencies is one way to measure patient well-being during rehabilitation.
Percentage of Patients
Lower is Better
Short-term Care: Facilitates Functional Improvement
This tells you the percentage of short-term stay residents who saw functional improvements, such as enhanced ability to perform activities of daily living. High levels of performance with ADL's often correlates with higher quality rehabilitation.
Percentage of Resident
Higher is Better