Pierce Receives National Recognition
Pierce Memorial Baptist Home has been recognized as one of the top 10 nursing homes in Connecticut in the latest issue of US News and World Reports. The February 2010 Special Issue, “Aging Well,” lists America’s top nursing homes by state.
Pierce scored an overall 5-star rating based on health inspections, amount of nursing care, and performance in a range of quality measures. In all three categories Pierce scored the highest rating available.
The Federal Center for Medicare and Medicaid Agency has designed Pierce as a highest 5-Star rated home.
As seen in the Norwich Bulletin, February, 2010 (excepts)
Pierce Memorial Baptist Home - “The Best Choice”
Choosing a short- or long-term care facility for you or a loved one is one of the most important choices you’ll ever make and there are a lot of options available. There are hundreds of facilities and care givers in our area of Connecticut alone. Choosing the best one involves deciding on the correct type of care, the location of the care, and the cost. In many cases the decision has to be made in a short period of time due to a sudden illness or injury. Fortunately, whether the choice needs to be made quickly or if there is time to do some in-depth research, there is one readily available source of valuable information - the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS).
The CMS has created a 5-Star Quality Rating System for care facilities “to help consumers, their families, and caregivers compare nursing homes more easily and to help identify areas about which you may want to ask questions.” They have compiled and organized volumes of data into an easily understandable rating system. The system’s results and tabulated information are posted on the Nursing Home Compare web site (medicare.gov/NHCompare). Whether you want to quickly look at locations and ratings of homes in your area or delve into detailed information about one or more facilities, you can easily locate it on their site.
The CMS 5-Star rating is based on three areas of evaluation – Health Inspections, Staffing, and Quality Measures. The Health Inspection portion of the evaluation reviews information from the last three years of on-site inspections, including both standard surveys and any survey held in response to a complaint. Inspectors visit the individuals facilities to determine the extent to which a nursing home has met Medicare’s minimum quality requirements. More than 200,000 reviews are used in the national scoring of the facilities.
The Staffing evaluation is based on the number of hours of care, on average, each resident receives every day they are in the facility. It also takes into account the differences in the level of care needed by residents in different nursing homes.
The final area of evaluation, Quality Measures, is based on ten different physical and clinical measures for nursing home residents. An example would be the prevalence of pressure sores – an area of damaged skin caused by a person staying in one position for too long. Information from all of the residents from each facility is collected for this evaluation, thus providing valuable insight into how well each facility is caring for the physical and clinical needs of their residents. Over 12 million assessments of the conditions of residents are used in determining this portion of the 5-Star rating.
A facility can receive an Overall 5-Star rating as well as a 5-Star rating in each of the three evaluation areas. The highest rated facilities receive 5 stars in all 4 categories. One of those highest rated facilities is located right here in northeastern Connecticut – Pierce Memorial Baptist Home in Brooklyn. Pierce received the highest 5-Star score in all 3 areas of evaluation as well as the overall 5-Star rating. In addition to this outstanding recognition, Pierce was also listed in the February 2010 issue of US News and World Report as one of the 10 best facilities in Connecticut.
Another organization which can be used to evaluate the continuing excellence of a nursing home is the American Health Care Association (AHCA). This organization sponsors the Quality Award program which, according to their web site “provides a pathway for providers of long term care services to journey toward performance excellence.” In October 2009 Pierce Memorial Baptist Home proudly received the Step I Bronze Award for quality of care from AHCA.
Rating systems and evaluations are excellent decision-making tools, but an in-person visit is essential. The facility you choose should “feel” right from the moment you walk through the door. The staff needs to be more than qualified – they need to make you feel cared for and welcome. Whether your or your loved one’s stay will be for a short rehabilitation or for long-term care, you need to feel comfortable.
When you make your visit to Pierce Memorial Baptist Home, think of the things that make you feel “at home.” Decide if it's the fancy carpet or the warm smile that greets you that is most important to you and your loved one. Take a look at a resident’s room and try to imagine yourself spending time there. You can immediately feel the comfort surrounding you.
A major advantage Pierce has to offer over other care facilities is private rooms and private baths. Privacy can be a major factor in a patient’s attitude and well-being.
There are many important factors when choosing a care facility including location, family considerations and, most importantly, the needs of the individual who will be entering. All options should be well-researched and, whenever possible, the decision should not be made in haste or as a last resort.
Since 1950, Pierce Memorial Baptist Home has been taking care of the residents of northeastern Connecticut. They are proud of their recent recognition in US News & World Report, their outstanding 5-Star CMS rating, and their Step I AHCA Award. Their staff and administration invite you to call and arrange for a visit to experience the quality of care that has earned them their awards, recognitions and outstanding reputation. |
