Nursing Home 'Honor Roll' listing

US News & World Report has issued an updated list of 'best nursing homes' based on government rankings. A few were designated as 'honor roll' facilities, meaning they received top scores in each ranking category over the past year.  Theses are listed below. The honor roll selection is based on scoring, meaning the list is just a starting point for selection.

- CA: Mary Health of the Sick Convalescent and Nursing Hospital, Rady Children’s Hospital Bernardy Center
- CT: Alzheimer's Resource Center of Connecticut, Lourdes Health Care Center, Matulaitis Nursing Home, Westview Nursing Care and Rehabilitation
- DE: Jeanne Jugan Residence
- MA:  Bethany Skilled Nursing Facility
- ME: Charles A. Dean Memorial Hospital

Nursing Home Selection Notes

There are certainly plenty of guides and checklists published on the internet and elsewhere for selecting a nursing home. Medicare has an on-line pamphlet, and also a checklist.  Here are some of my own notes:

1. As I have suggested previously, check out the government websites of nursing homes, and specifically the '5 Star ranking' score of the ones you are considering. As you narrow down your choices you may want to look into the factors behind the rankings.  As an example, I see my son's employer received only a mediocre ranking. That nursing home.....

Nursing Home "Honor Roll"

US News & World Report's honor roll of nursing homes.

Arkansas: St. Mary's Regional

California: Golden LivingCenter-Fresno / Rady Children's Convalescent

Connecticut Grove Manor / Matulaitis / Lourdes

Delaware Cokesbury Village / Jeanne Jugan

Florida Brooksville Healthcare

Nursing Home Rating System

Here is a link to the government ratings of individual nursing homes: HHS.gov (http://www.medicare.gov/NHCompare/Include/DataSection/Questions/ProximitySearch.asp)   They rate each of more than 10,000 nursing homes on a scale of one-star to five-stars, based on inspections and various measurements.

Much Above Avg.
Above Avg.
Average
Below Avg.
Much Below

If you click the nursing home name, and then select the categories, there are some comments. Here is an example, for a place with a "One Star" rating: