One Star Care

Growing old is not always easy, and for Betty and William Dwight who are in their early eighties, it only got harder as their health got worse.

"I just pass out on the floor and don't even know it" says Betty.

Betty went to the hospital, but the insurance stopped paying. William couldn't take care of her anymore. He says "They brought me in because I was so exhausted from taking care of her."

She had to be moved to a nursing home. Rosewood Heights Health Center was their only option.

"There was no other place. This was the only bed open at the time she had to leave the hospital," says William Dwight.

The Dwights were not able to choose their nursing home. Many have the same experience. But for those who can choose, the Federal Government is looking to make that decision easier.

The Center for Medicare and Medicaid, Kerry Weems, says the rating system is used to "provide families a straightfoward assessment of nursing home quality, with meaningful distinctions between high and low performing homes."

Rosewood Heights Health Center is one of thirteen nursing homes in the Syracuse area that were rated.

"What you'll find is that maybe with the exception of one or two, everybody is one out of five stars," says Rosewood Heights Director, Paul Scarpinato.

In fact five were rated higher. But Rosewood Heights is among the eight that got the lowest rating. To determine the overall rating, surveyors look at three areas: Health Inspections, Staffing and Quality Measures.

Scarpinato says it's difficult to compare nursing homes.

"You're going to find that you're not comparing apples to apples. The size of the facility, the complexity of folks they take in, do play into the information that shows up in the Quality Measures as well as staffing."

Scarpinato says there's more to choosing a nursing home than just looking at a star system."Rely on your five senses, which means you gotta go visit. You need to go take a look a walk through, go see what's going on for yourself. Go look at the condition of the building, the rooms, see the interaction of the staff and the residents," says Scarpinato.

Even the best ranked five star facilities, like the Nottingham says families do have several things to consider when choosing. Tracy Engle is the director of the Nottingham, she says "I'd walk into the facility, what does it look like, what does it smell like? I would look at the activities calendar."

"Yes we are a five star facility, some of the other facilities, that didn't get five stars, I don't think it's an accurate representation of the care they provide," says Engle.

And the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Administrator Kerry Weems agreed with that in his news release, saying "this system is not intended to be the only tool families use in selecting the right nursing facility for a loved one."

But it is a tool that's available, not only to choose, but to know one measure of the facility you or your loved one has already been placed in.

William and Betty Dwight agree that no place is perfect.

"You got some good help, and you got some mediocre help," says William.

In their short time at Rosewood Heights, they say they have experienced both.

"We were all night without an aid or anybody. And we need to ring the bell usually to go to the John, because we need help," says Betty Dwight.

"From eleven o'clock to 8 o'clock this morning, nobody," says William.

"Yeah, we had to hold it or foget it," added Betty.

But they say overall they are treated well and taken care of. Still, the had no choice but to go to a place that has the lowest rating, one star.

Scarpinato says he wants to improve Rosewood Heights, but it's not the number of stars he's interested in. "I'm going to focus in on our day to day operations. The residents that we have, the systems that we have, the financial reimbursements that we have, and make the best shot at improving our health inspections and quality measures," says Scarpinato.

To compare nursing homes in your area, or to find out more information please visit http://www.medicare.gov/NHCompare/Include/DataSection/Questions/SearchCriteriaNEW.asp?version=default&browser=IE%7C7%7CWinXP&language=English&defaultstatus=0&pagelist=Home&CookiesEnabledStatus=True