Best Area Nursing Homes?

Though pronounced dead at the hospital which provided her care Pearlie Mae actually died at the nursing home where she for hospice care. The facility did not receive a favorable rating during her "residency." We certainly felt the home was unacceptable for animal care let along the care of a human being. We don't have a high opinion of nursing homes in general. However the ones we do have neutral feelings toward actually didn't score very highly either.

One in five of the nation's 15,700 nursing homes have consistently received poor ratings for overall quality, a USA TODAY analysis of new government data finds. More than a quarter-million patients live in homes given another set of low scores within the past year, according to data released today by Medicare, which first released the star ratings of the nation's nursing homes in late 2008. The ratings are derived from inspections, complaint investigations and other data collected mostly in 2008 and 2009. (USA Today)

It's only because we have experience with many of these local facilities at the time of the ratings that we can support the findings of Medicare. We have from the Medicare site the list for our jurisdictions of the ONLY facilities that you should even consider for housing your recovering or discarded family members. Sorry! That was unnecessarily harsh and we apologize but the subject is still a sensitive one.

Former Frazier co-star David Hyde Pierce had a different opinion and take on the issue when interviewed for the for PBS Series Life (Part 2) stating:

"...[T]hey found a great assisted living place 7 miles from their house, moved him there. It turned out to be the best thing in the world. We usually think of that as a bad second choice. In this case, it was a wonderful choice because instead of being in a house where there were very few people around, 'cause people had to work or be in school, he was constantly surrounded by people. He flourished in a social environment. He was always a very social person. Because of the demographics, he was one of the few men among many women, so that was lovely. And he continued to decline. He never went as far as my grandfather did. My grandfather went the whole route of the disease. My dad was, as we think, mercifully, stricken with the flu and got very sick, and my brother called us all. We were all able to come up there and we were all with him and he still knew us when he passed away." (Science of Happiness, Episode 10)

It took us a few days to analysis the data and find the best of the "poor." These should be the only facilities that you'd even consider for care, however, knowing how a facility fails can help you in either your choice or your lawsuit. The choice to know the devil the government knows or to know what you need to watch out for can also be a great boon to their care.

The Five-Star Quality Rating System was created to help consumers, their families, and caregivers compare nursing homes more easily and help identify areas about which you may want to ask questions. This rating system is based on continued efforts as a result of the Omnibus Reconciliation Act of 1987 (OBRA '87), a nursing home reform law, and more recent quality improvement campaigns such as the Advancing Excellence in America’s Nursing Homes, a coalition of consumers, health care providers, and nursing home professionals. Nursing home ratings are taken from the following three sources of data: Health Inspections, Staffing and Quality Measures. We provide a star rating for each of these three sources, in case some areas are more important to you than others. Then, these three ratings are combined to calculate an overall rating. (MEDICARE)

DC 3 choices (though we only found two (2) worthy of use and our choices are below):

1.  Jeanne Jugan Residence, NE  Stars 5/5/5/2 Medicaid, Non Profit, (40)
2.  The Methodist Home, NW   Stars 5/5/4/4 Medicare and Medicaid, Non Profit, (50)

MD 36 choices (though we only found seven (7) worthy of use and our choices are below):

1. Maria Health Care Center, Baltimore  Stars 5/5/5/5 M and M, Non profit, (60)
2. Crawford Retreat, Baltimore  Stars 5/5/4/5 Medicaid, For Profit, (20)
3. Sacred Heart Home, Hyattsville, Stars 5/5/4/5 Medicaid, Non profit, (102)
4. St. Vincent Care Center, Emmitsburg, Stars 5/5/5/4 M and M, Non profit (46)
5. Garrett County Subacute Unit, Oakland, Stars 5/5/5/3 M and M, Government (10)
6. Hartley Hall Nursing Home, Pocomoke City, Stars 5/5/3/5 M and M, Non profit (70)
7. St. Joseph's Nursing Home, Catonsville, Stars 5/5/3/5 Medicaid, Non profit (44)

NC 47 choices (though we only found four (4) worthy of use and our choices are below):

1.  Chowan Hosp-Snf, Edenton, Stars 5/5/5/5 M and M, Non Profit (40)
2.  Mayview Convalescent Center, Raleigh, Stars 5/5/5/5 M and M, For Profit (51)
3.  Pungo District Hosp Ventilator Unit, Belhaven, Stars 5/5/5/U M and M, For Profit (10)
4.  Wakemed Fuquay Varina Outpatient & Snf, Fuquay Varina, Stars 5/5/5/3 M and M, Non Profit (36)

VA 35 choices (though we only found seven (7) worthy of use and our choices are below):

1. Central Virginia Training Cent, Lynchburg, Stars 5/5/5/5 M and M, Government (104)
2. Little Sisters Of The Poor, Richmond, Stars 5/5/5/5 Medicaid, Non Profit (22)
3. Shenandoah Vly Westminster-Canterbury, Stars 5/5/5/5 M and M, Non Profit (40) 
4. Snyder Nursing Home, Salem, Stars 5/5/5/4 Medicaid, Non Profit (45)
5. Summit Square, Waynesboro, Stars 5/5/5/4 Medicaid, Non Profit (18)
6. Lake Prince Woods, Sufflok, Stars 5/4/5/5 Medicare, Non Profit (40) 
7. Southside Regional Medical Ctr, Petersburg, Stars 5/4/5/5 M and M, For Profit (20) 

• Stars (Overall / Inspections / Staff / Quality Measures) (# of Beds in the facility)

The best nursing home in the District of Columbia can't equal the best Maryland, North Carolina or Virginia facilities according to the Medicare government data. In choosing a better nursing home in the area size matters and the smaller the better - however smaller means fewer available beds. When your loved ones are in need the need from a hospital is immediate. Like David Hyde Pierce whose family interred their Grandfather and then their father in a nursing home while proclaiming the sites good for their relatives. You know if you're a nursing home person.

For us the question is would we want this for ourselves. We certainly wouldn't want to be burden on our families nor bankrupt them financially either. But to quote Mr. Pierce, speaking about his grandfather, on the PBS Series Life (Part 2) episode 10 entitled "Seeking Happiness:"

"The last time I saw him he was in a nursing home in New York State. He was in a wheelchair with his arms tied with straps to the arms of the wheelchair looking at cutout pictures in a construction paper book that some helpful volunteer had put together of flowers. Just sort of happily staring kind of blankly at this thing." (VIEW)

That's not the kind of life or death we'd like for ourselves but that's just us! We say live the kind of life you'd like to die living. For us it's not something we'd like to do alone with strangers but that's how we were raised. If you're raised differently stay in contact with the best places which can transport your loved ones to a facility for specialized care and then return them to the home to convalesce. Beds are few are far between - people are dying to get in.