Wicomico Nursing Home

Although we did not have many favorable things to say about this place's overall grade, it earned a somewhat respectable government inspection report this year. It received a decent grade in that category with a B-. These inspection grades weigh several factors, including deficiencies and substantiated complaints. You can learn more about each of these issues by reviewing copies of nursing homes' inspection reports. Fortunately, although this facility had some minor dings on its report, it had no severe deficiencies. Severe deficiencies are those labeled as categories G through L. This tells you the government inspectors didn't consider any of the deficiencies on this facility's report to pose an imminent threat to patient safety or health. Finally, this facility was cited by CMS for possible abuse or neglect. We would not recommend this facility under any circumstance.

We awarded this facility a respectable grade in the area of nursing as well, with a grade of B-. The nursing score includes several datapoints, however, the main one is the quantity of nurse hours per patient per week. This facility averages just 0.4 hours of nursing care per patient per day, which is a very low figure. Lastly, we also looked at several nursing quality-based metrics. While this facility got dinged a bit for nursing hours, it excelled in some of these quality measures. With less than five percent of its patients experiencing pressure ulcers, it fared well in this area. This can be a good indicator of quality nursing care. Pressure ulcers can generally be prevented by providing better nursing care, such as by having a policy of turning residents even once per day.

The next category we graded was short-term care. In that area, we awarded this nursing home a grade of B-. Our short-term care ratings are probably more critical for patients requiring rehabilitation services. Rehabilitation typically mandates additional skilled nursing. This includes not just nursing, but also physical and speech therapy, as well as other forms of therapy. In this place's case, we were surprised to learn that it actually provides less physical therapist and registered nurse hours per resident than a typical facility. The hope is always that this does not adversely impact the quality of care. The final statistic we assessed in this category is the number of residents who ultimately were able to return home from the nursing home. We found that just 5 percent of this nursing home's patients returned home.

Switching gears to the next area, this nursing home was given an acceptable long-term care score of B-. In forming our long-term care ratings, we look at the facility's ability to maintain its permanent residents' health and quality of life. After considering the volume of care provided by nurses aids and other staff, we then looked at the facility's vaccination record. We were optimistic to discover that this facility vaccinated 100 percent of its residents against pneumonia. Lastly, this nursing home was also able to limit hospitalizations. In fact, it had less than one hospitalization per one thousand long-term resident days, which is a remarkably low figure.