Nursing Home In Eatontown Receives Low Rating From U.S. News

EATONTOWN, NJ — An Eatontown nursing home was one of 24 in New Jersey that received the lowest ratings in a recently released U.S. News & World Report publication that evaluated nursing homes across the country.

Homes were given an overall rating, a rating for short-term rehabilitation care and a new rating this year that evaluates long-term care. Twenty-four received an overall rating of "1" or "2" and "below average" label for either short- or long-term care, according to the report.

Gateway Care Center received a 1 out of 3 in short-term care and a 2 out of 3 in longterm treatment. They were rated 2 out of 5 overall. The ratings are based on data from January 2016 to August 2019.

Here were their ratings in short-term care:

Registered nurse staffing: Availability of registered nursing staff per resident per day. Registered nurses have the highest training level among nursing staff. Nursing levels are most associated with successful rehabilitation. Data used in analysis was from 4/01/2018 - 3/31/2019 (higher is better).

• Gateway Care Center: 33 minutes
• state average: 50 minutes
• national average: 41 minutes

Consistent nurse staffing: Percentage of days where federal standards for registered nurse staffing hours were met. Adequate staffing is associated with better safety and outcomes. Data used in analysis was from 4/01/2018 - 3/31/2019 (higher is better).

• Gateway Care Center: 100 percent
• state average: 99.2 percent
• national average: 97.2 percent

Physical therapist staffing: Availability of physical rehabilitation therapists per resident per day. Patients who receive appropriate PT are more likely to go home on time and be able to avoid injury. Data used in analysis was from 4/01/2018 - 3/31/2019 (higher is better).

• Gateway Care Center: 4 minutes
• state average: 8 minutes
• national average: 5 minutes

Patient-centered rehabilitation therapy: Percentage of patients who received more than the minimum amount of therapy indicated for their condition. This suggests that patients are receiving appropriate care. Data used in analysis was from 1/01/2016 - 12/31/2016, the most recent data available (higher is better).

• Gateway Care Center: 31.4 percent
• state average: 31.5 percent
• national average: 41.8 percent

Patients able to return home: Percentage of patients who were discharged from the nursing home to their own home or residence, an indication of successful rehabilitation. Data used in the analysis was from 10/01/2016 - 09/30/2017 (higher is better).

• Gateway Care Center: 37.4 percent
• state average: 52.5 percent
• national average: 49.3 percent

Emergency room visits: Percent of patients who needed to go to an ER (ED) during their stay. The data used in analysis was from 01/01/2018 - 12/31/2018 (lower is better).

• Gateway Care Center: 9.5 percent
• state average: 8.1 percent
• national average: 10.7 percent

Flu vaccination: Percentage of patients who were appropriately given a timely flu vaccination. Vaccinations are an important disease-prevention tool, especially when people are living in close proximity. Data used in the analysis was from 4/01/2018 - 3/31/2019 (higher is better).

• Gateway Care Center: 49.5 percent
• state average: 89.9 percent
• national average: 82.5 percent

Prevention of falls: Percentage of patients who did not experience any falls resulting in a major injury, such as bone fracture or dislocation. Data used in the analysis was from 10/01/2017 - 09/30/2018 (higher is better).

• Gateway Care Center: 100 percent
• state average: 99.4 percent
• national average: 99.1 percent

Use of antipsychotic drugs: Percentage of patients who were newly given antipsychotic drugs. High levels of use of these drugs can indicate inappropriate use for behavior control rather than for medical treatment. Data used in the analysis was from 4/01/2018 - 3/31/2019 (lower is better).

• Gateway Care Center: 4.3 percent
• state average: 1.2 percent
• national average: 1.8 percent

Rate of substantiated complaints: Indicates that a home had a low or reasonable level of substantiated complaints. A low rate of complaints is associated with better safety and satisfaction. Data used in the analysis was from 3/19/2013 - 6/20/2019.

• Gateway Care Center: low or reasonable volume of complaints

Gateway Care Center did not return comment in time for publication.

In New Jersey, 38 homes received the highest overall rating of five, 125 homes received a high-performing rating for short-term care and 22 homes received a high-performing rating for long-term care. Read more: 137 NJ Nursing Homes Make U.S. News 'Best' Ratings

"This year, we introduced a long-term care rating," Zach Adams, a senior health data analyst at U.S. News, told Patch. "This is for people who need ongoing daily assistance in stuff like health-related and personal care."

The report follows another one released by the federal government earlier this year that gave 29 nursing homes in New Jersey a one-star rating. Read more: 29 NJ Nursing Homes Receive Lowest Rating From Federal Gov't

In the U.S. News report, the overall ratings for nursing homes in 2019-20 are based exclusively on the short-term and long-term care ratings, Adams said.

A strong emphasis was placed on staffing in methodology to compile the "U.S. News Best Nursing Home" ranking for 2019-20. Adams said staffing levels are strongly associated with quality and safety.

"We think everyone deserves to get the right amount of time and attention," Adams said, explaining that the publication measured the percentage of days a nursing home met the federal standards for registered nurse staffing. In addition to having sufficient staff overall, the publication wanted to make sure nursing homes are still meeting some threshold on their less well-staffed days.

Patient outcomes — both positive and negative — are also a key part of the methodology.

With reporting from Tom Davis/Patch

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