Highland Care Center sits over in Jamaica, New York, and has 320 certified beds approved for Medicare and Medicaid, so it's a larger place, and folks seem to mention that it looks nice and modern inside with features like a dining room and what they call a beautiful bathroom facility, which can make a difference in day-to-day living for many people, and there's a private activities lounge too that residents can reserve, plus a variety of activities and a Holistic Wellness Program to help keep everyone engaged. The staff try to care for residents with compassion and focus on comfort, and there's a resident council so people living there can share their thoughts with staff easily, though staffing hours per resident are lower than average, with 2 hours and 1 minute for nurse aides, 39 minutes for LPN/LVN, and 33 minutes for registered nurses each day, which gives about 1 hour and 12 minutes of licensed nurse time for every person daily, and the overall staffing star rating is 2 stars, pointing to that below-average level.
The quality of care star rating comes in higher at 5 stars, which means the care outcomes are quite good based on current measures, and the health inspection star rating is 4 stars because, as of the last check on August 4, 2018, there were no health citations from New York State inspectors, though there were 5 fire safety citations, which is higher than state and national averages, so fire safety was an area where there were more concerns. Residents seem to have good vaccination rates: pneumonia at 98% and flu at 92.4% among short-stay people, while long-stay residents have a 2.5% rate of moderate or severe pain, 1.0% for urinary tract infections, and a 4.6% pressure ulcer prevalence among those at high risk, which is something to consider for families watching for pressure sores. There's a 2.1% fall rate with major injury among long-stay residents, a 1.6% general pressure ulcer rate, and the average is 0.60 outpatient emergency visits and 1.97 hospitalizations per 1,000 resident days in long-stay care. Short-stay residents see a re-hospitalization rate of 22.3%. The overall CMS star rating ends up at 3 stars, meaning things are about average when everything is put together.
Highland Care Center offers both long-term care and short-term rehab with on-site ancillary services, along with 24-hour nursing staff and specialized care that includes compassionate visits and COVID-19 safety measures. The place is for-profit, run by Highland Care Center, Inc., and holds walk-in Wednesdays for hiring new staff like RNs, LPNs, and CNAs, so they try to bring new caregivers onto the team. The facility aims to promote well-being and help residents live as well as they can, using a holistic approach and focusing both on the comfort side and the medical needs, and while most people describe staff as kind and caring, the staffing levels remain lower than what some might want, though the place does make sure it's clean, well-maintained, and as comfortable as possible with activities and amenities in place.
