Nursing home ratings
The paper's listing of nursing home rankings took a complicated tool and explained it in a very simple manner, which I believe to be misleading.
The overall rating system is actually a combination of three ratings: a health inspection, staffing and quality measures.
While it may appear that the information gathered is a recent reflection of current operations and care practices, in actuality, the information was collected from data compiled over the last three health inspections. For Richmond Place, this dates back to 2006.
Since surveyors have not been to the building in almost a year, a more current assessment has not replaced the four-year-old data, which does not give an accurate picture of the current care and practices.
The staffing data included in this ranking represents the average number of hours and minutes per day of care provided per resident in the facility. The data is collected at the time of the on-site survey. While informative, this raw data has limited ability to address whether the community is adequately staffed, and may not be representative of the entire year.
The quality measure rating is determined from data compiled between October 2009 and March 2010, and is approximately 45-day-old information.
Richmond Place has a highly effective and focused rehabilitation team and programs, which enable us to admit and discharge many residents each month, with a low average length of stay — both of which are positive outcomes that negatively and unfairly affect our quality measure rating.
Brookdale Senior Living purchased and assumed management control of this rehabilitation and health center in August 2007, after the facility had been closed. Unfortunately, the process of reopening a community and re-establishing the systems, policies and staffing created variables that cannot be quantified with the ranking.
The five-star rating system is one-dimensional, and I encourage prospective residents and their family members to visit our community in person and talk with staff, residents and other knowledgeable and appropriate sources in the greater community. There is no substitute for firsthand experience.
This story was originally published May 24, 2010 at 12:00 AM with the headline "Nursing home ratings."