Willow Ridge Healthcare
400 Deronda St, Amery WI 54001 · (715) 268-8171 · 66.02% estimated occupancy 1Updated: Aug 1, 2020 · By Nick Reese
Willow Ridge Healthcare is one of just a couple available facilities in Amery, Wisconsin. Featuring an overall rating of F, we consider this to be a very poor nursing home. Based on our ratings, this facility is not a good fit for anyone. We wouldn't blame you if you're ready to stop reading and find another nursing home. However, if you want to learn more about this facility's category grades, inspection grades are discussed in the next paragraph.
Additional Details:
Accepts Medicare 1 :
Accepts Medicaid 1 : 83 Beds
CCRC :
For profit - Corporation
Resident Council:
Family Council:
Medical Staff Hours Per Patient (2019)
Facility Inspections
While we graded this facility incredibly poorly overall, it received a fairly respectable inspection report this year. As a result, it received a decent grade in that category with a score of B-. We take several aspects of a facility's inspection report into consideration in determining these inspection scores. One of those factors is health deficiencies. You should keep in mind that the severity of the deficiencies is usually more meaningful than the quantity of deficiencies, as some can be relatively minor. 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. Finally, this facility was cited by CMS for possible abuse or neglect. We would not recommend this facility under any circumstance.
Short-term Care Quality
We were also stunned to learn that this facility earned a solid short-term care grade in our assessment. We gave it a grade of B- in this category. Short-term care ratings are important for prospective residents seeking rehabilitation. Rehabilitation typically requires higher levels of skilled nursing services. Skilled nursing means a vast range of nursing services, ranging from registered nurses to physical and respiratory therapists, as well as other types of therapy. In this place's case, we were surprised to learn that it actually provides less registered nurse and physical therapist hours per patient than the typical facility. Lastly, we considered the percentage of patients who were able to return to the community from this facility. This proved to be more of a strength for this facility. In fact, we found that it outperformed the majority of facilities in the country with 54.2 percent of its patients returning home.
Nurse Quality
Remarkably, we awarded this nursing home a grade of C for our nursing rating, which isn't a bad grade. When computing our nursing grades, we assess both nursing hours and the levels of licensure of the nurses. This facility provided just 2.9 hours of nursing care per resident per day. This is a relatively low total compared to most other facilities. Finally, despite not having the highest total nursing hours, this facility actually performed admirably in the area of preventing major falls. This is often a good indicator that a nursing home has sufficient quality controls in place.
Long-term Care Quality
The last area we graded was long-term care. It received a lowly F for this area, which is an abysmal score. For residents seeking a permanent residence as opposed to skilled nursing, long-term care is an important category. In addition to looking at the amount of care provided by nurses aids and other staff, we also looked at the number of residents vaccinated against pneumonia. This facility provided the vaccine to 94.04762 percent of its patients, which is more than most nursing homes. To our surprise, this facility was able to limit hospitalizations. With only 1.22 hospitalizations per one thousand long-term resident days, this nursing home has fewer hospitalizations than the majority of nursing homes. Unfortunately, some of its other scores in the category were not as favorable as these.
Overall Rating Over Time
Compared to national and state averages across all facilities.
Willow Ridge Healthcare Quality Metrics
Minimizes Pressure Ulcers
This tells you the percent of patients who sustained a pressure ulcer. Pressure ulcers are damage to the skin caused by remaining in one position for too long.
Percent of Patients with Pressure Ulcers
Lower is Better
Minimizes Serious Falls
This is the percentage of residents who suffered from a major fall. Falls resulting in serious injury are considered to be a barometer of the quality of nursing care . Falls leading to injury are routinely caused by lower quality nursing care.
Percent of Patients with Serious Falls
Lower is Better
Minimizes Urinary Tract Infections
This indicates the percent of patients who suffered from a urinary tract infection. Urinary tract infections are often caused by facilities with lower levels of hygiene. Better hygiene protocols reduces the number of UTI's sustained by residents in a nursing home. Keep in mind that this statistic is affected by by the fact that facilities have varying reporting standards for UTI's.
Percent of Patients with UTIs
Lower is Better
Appropriately Uses Anti-Psychotic Medication
This metric measures the percentage of long-term patients receiving antipsychotic drugs. While antipsychotic drugs play an important role in caring for many residents, it is important to ensure these drugs are being used only where medically required. In some cases, excessive reliance on these medications may mean a facility is using these medications to control patient behavior.
Percent of Patients
Lower is Better
Appropriately Uses Anti-Anxiety Medication
This gauges the percentage of long-term care residents which are administered antianxiety drugs. These medications are commonly prescribed to residents suffering from depression and anxiety.
Percent of Patients
Lower is Better
Managing Depression Among Residents
This is the percent of patients who are exhibiting signs of depression. High levels of depression could imply worse patient care.
Percent of Patients
Lower is Better
Appropriate Vaccine Usage
This indicates the percent of residents that were given the flu and pneumonia vaccines. Higher vaccination rates should be demanded by residents.
Percent of Patients
Higher is Better
Residents Maintain Autonomy
This tells you the percentage of residents that needed more assistance with activities of daily living over time. Higher levels of dependence on staff for assistance with ADL's may indicate the decline of a resident's well-being.
Percentage of Patients
Lower is Better
Ability to Keep Residents Mobile
Measures the percent of long-term care patients that remained mobile levels.
Percentage of Residents
Higher is Better
Hospitalizations
This tells you the number of times residents are hospitalized per 1,000 days of patient care.
Hospitalizations per 1,000 resident days
Lower is Better
Short-term Care: Rehospitalizations
This indicates the number of rehospitalizations per thousand days of short-term patient care.
Percentage of Residents Rehospitalized
Lower is Better
Short-term Care: ER Visits
This is the number of emergency room visits per 1,000 days of short-term patient care.
Percentage of Patients
Lower is Better
Short-term Care: Facilitates Functional Improvement
This metric is a measure of the percentage of short-term residents that saw functional improvements, such as with activities of daily living. Some experts believe that this is a reasonable measure of a nursing home's rehabilitation performance.
Percentage of Resident
Higher is Better