Jefferson House, a skilled nursing, outpatient rehabilitation and palliative care community at 1 John H. Stewart Drive in Newington, recently received the highest Best Nursing Homes Rating from U.S. News & World Report.
Jefferson House, a not-for-profit member of Hartford HealthCare Senior Services, received the top “high performing” rating for short-term rehabilitation and long-term care. Ratings are categorized as “below average,” “average” or “high performing.” Of the 215 nursing homes in Connecticut, only 27 received an overall rating of 5 out of 5.
“This Best Nursing Home Rating demonstrates Jefferson House’s continued commitment to providing optimum care for our residents and rehabilitation clients,” said Susan Vinal, executive director of Jefferson House. “This achievement validates our mission and core values in what we do every day.”
In the Short-Term Rehabilitation category, Jefferson House exceeded the state and national averages in nurse staffing; physical therapist staffing; patient-centered rehabilitation therapy; patients’ ability to return home; prevention of falls; and other factors. The new Long-Term Care rating was based on nurse staffing, hospitalizations, ability to self-care and additional areas.
Of the more than 15,000 nursing homes evaluated nationwide by U.S. News, only 2,969 facilities met the top criteria. A total of 420 nursing homes received both distinctions as “high performing” in Short-Term Rehabilitation and Long-Term Care.
Also in 2019, Jefferson House received an overall Five Star Quality Rating from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, achieving the highest tier in each of the five categories measured as well as overall. Jefferson House was one of only seven of more than 200 skilled nursing communities in Connecticut that merited the top performing status based on a 1.0 to 5.0 scale.
U.S. News & World Report rates nursing homes to assist families in finding caring facilities for their loved ones. Consumers can use these quality measures to choose a nursing facility, find out about the care and quality where a loved one already lives, and/or learn information to discuss with the care staff. Ratings also allow staff the opportunity to review and improve the overall care they provide.