March 25, 2011
Memorial Hospital in Jasper ranked high in U.S. News & World Report
Memorial Hospital and Health Care Center has received a high ranking of five stars overall in U.S. News & World Report’s 2011 Best Nursing Homes, available online at www.us-news.com/nursinghomes.
The rankings highlight facilities across the nation providing high-quality care and are a worthwhile tool for millions of older Americans and their families in search of a nursing home.
“I am very proud of our Skilled Caring Center being recognized as one of the best. I am even more proud of our employees whose work, dedication, and compassion for the patients they serve, made it possible to be recognized,” says Ray Snowden, president and CEO of Memorial Hospital.
U.S. News’s Best Nursing Homes profiles more than 15,000 facilities and ranks them by state, using data and quality ratings from the federal government. The rankings are updated quarterly.
The rankings rely on information from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, the federal agency that sets and enforces quality standards for all homes enrolled in Medicare or Medicaid. Homes receive an overall rating of one to five stars from the government based on the number of stars earned in three other categories: health inspections, nurse staffing and quality of care.
“We feel very honored to be ranked among the best nursing homes in the U.S. News and World Report,” said Tonya Heim, vice president of Patient Services and Chief Nursing Officer. “However, our primary goal is not to receive such national honors. Our goal is to provide a high level of quality care for our community.”
Heim said that “Cheryl Welp and the staff of our Skilled Caring Center work very hard to provide quality care in a very personal way to every resident on our unit. The excellence that we have been honored for is further evidence of the many ways our staff carry out our mission to ‘Be for Others.’”
Facilities that ranked highest in Best Nursing Homes 2011 earned overall five-star ratings. Only about one home in seven met this standard.
“Choosing a nursing home for your parent or loved one is incredibly difficult,” says Avery Comarow, health rankings editor at U.S. News & World Report. “Homes at the top of our rankings have repeatedly shown high quality and deserve consideration.”
Memorial Hospital’s Skilled Caring Center is a fully independent, short-term, skilled nursing residence that provides 24-hour professional nursing care as well as physical, occupational, speech and respiratory therapy; social services; activities and nutrition services.