Western Hills Health Care Center

In addition to performing well in its overall grade, this facility received a first-rate nursing grade. In fact, we gave it a grade of A in that category. Nursing ratings are primarily associated with the facility's nurse staffing. This particular nursing home provided 0.3 hours of nursing care per resident per day. Finally, we also looked at some nursing quality measures in determining our nursing grades. This place performed very well when it comes to avoiding major falls and pressure ulcers. We consider these areas to be good indicators of the quality of nursing care.

Adding to its impressive profile, this nursing home also performed well in our short-term care area. In fact, we awarded it a score of A in that area. Short-term care grades are based on a facility's quantity of highly-skilled skilled healthcare professionals. This means a vast range of services, ranging from registered nurses to physical and occupational therapists, in addition to other forms of therapy. Fortunately, it looks like this facility employs registered nurses. Not every facility employs these types of nurses. On the other hand, based on the information they provided, it does not look like the facility employs physical therapists. The final metric we considered in this category is the number of patients who were able to leave the facility and return home. We found that 5.7 percent of this facility's residents were able to return home.

Another impressive feature of this facility is its inspection grade. In that area, we awarded this facility a grade of A-. Inspection scores weigh a host of factors included in a facility's inspection report. One key criteria we look at is the number and severity of deficiencies. Facilities with better scores in this area typically have very 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.

The final area we scored ended up being this nursing home's poorest area. However, even its worst category would actually be a highlight for many nursing homes. We gave it a favorable grade of B for our long-term care category. When facilities receive this kind of score in long-term care it is typically a good sign for resident care and indicates that the facility is well-staffed with nurses and aids. Once we assessed the amount of care provided by nurses, we turned to the nursing home's vaccination record. This nursing home vaccinated 100 percent of its residents against pneumonia, which is what we like to see. Pneumonia is too frequently a life or death health condition for nursing home patients so we strongly prefer when a nursing home doesn't leave this to chance. Finally, this place was able to limit hospitalizations. Indeed, it had only 0 hospitalizations per one thousand long-term resident days, which is a remarkably low number.