US News & World Report 2022 Ratings Released For Hundreds Of VA Nursing Homes

VIRGINIA — The last two years have proved a challenging time for nursing homes in Virginia. While many facilities continue to face an ongoing battle against the coronavirus, families in Virginia are still likely to turn to nursing homes to provide short- or long-term care for their loved ones.

One in 10 Americans over the age of 85 is a nursing home resident, according to U.S. News & World Report, which released its 2021-22 list of Best Nursing Homes on Tuesday. Nearly one-third of older Americans spend time in a nursing home during their final months of life.

In order to help families choose the right nursing home, U.S. News rated more than 15,000 nursing facilities providing care to 1.1 million people in the United States.

This year’s list rated 286 nursing homes in Virginia.

To compile rankings, U.S. News analyzed available public data through the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. Researchers looked at several outcomes, including COVID-19 vaccination requirements for residents and staff, flu and pneumonia vaccination rates, and infection control violations listed on the resident safety summary.

A nursing facility’s COVID-19 vaccination rate played a key role in its overall ranking, according to U.S. News. Homes with a staff vaccination rate below 75 percent were not considered leading facilities. Because of this, a significant percentage of short-term and long-term care programs that would have otherwise qualified as “high-performing'' were downgraded at the time of the list’s publication.

Ratings were generated based on data publicly available as of July 2021, with additional COVID-19 vaccination data publicly available as of October 2021.

More on the methodology used to compile this year’s list of best nursing homes can be found here.

Each facility was then rated on quality of long- and short-term care. Ratings range from high-performing to below average. Facilities were also assigned an overall rating ranging from high-performing to below average.

Out of more than 13,100 nursing homes rated for long-term care, 1,063 were designated as high-performing. About 13,500 facilities received a short-term rating, of which only 1,651 homes earned a high-performing rating.

Each home’s overall rating was based on the average of the home’s long-term and short-term ratings, where high performing receives a value of 5, average receives a value of 3, and below average receives a value of 1.

Here's an example of the overall rating calculations:

• If a home is rated “High Performing” in short-term rehabilitation and “High Performing” in long-term care, it is rated 5 out of 5 overall.
• If a home is rated “Average” in short-term rehabilitation and does not have a long-term care rating, it is rated 3 out of 5 overall.
• If a home is rated “Average” in short-term rehabilitation and “Below Average” in long-term care, it is rated 2 out of 5 overall.

In Virginia, out of the 286 nursing homes that were rated, 20 received high-performing overall ratings, while 25 received high-performing ratings for long-term care and 58 received high-performing marks for short-term care.

In Northern Virginia, the Arleigh Burke Pavilion received a 5 out of 5 rating. The McLean nursing home is a small facility with 49 beds and nonprofit ownership. Arleigh Burke Pavilion is a part of a continuing care retirement community. It participates in Medicare.

The Goodwin House in Bailey's Crossroads also received a 5 out of 5 rating. Like Arleigh Burke Pavilion, Goodwin House Bailey's Crossroads is a small facility with 73 beds and nonprofit ownership. It's a part of a continuing care retirement community. It participates in Medicare and Medicaid.

In the Fredericksburg area, the Falls Run Nursing and Rehabilitation Center received a 5 out of 5 rating. It's a medium facility with 90 beds and nonprofit ownership. Falls Run Nursing and Rehabilitation Center is not a part of a continuing care retirement community. It participates in Medicare and Medicaid.

On the low end of the ratings is Envoy of Woodbridge, which received a 2 out of 5 rating. It's a medium facility with 120 beds and has for-profit ownership. Envoy of Woodbridge is not a part of a continuing care retirement community. It participates in Medicare and Medicaid.

Here’s a rundown of how certain nursing homes in Northern Virginia and the Fredericksburg area fared in the U.S. News & World Report ratings:

Manorcare Health Services-Alexandria

• Short-stay rating: High performing
• Long-stay rating: Average
• Overall rating: Better than average

Mount Vernon Healthcare Center, Alexandria

• Short-stay rating: High performing
• Long-stay rating: Average
• Overall rating: Better than average

Goodwin House Bailey's Crossroads, Falls Church

• Short-stay rating: High performing
• Long-stay rating: High performing
• Overall rating: High performing

Cherrydale Health and Rehabilitation Center, Arlington

• Short-stay rating: Average
• Long-stay rating: Average
• Overall rating: Average

Arleigh Burke Pavilion, McLean

• Short-stay rating: High performing
• Long-stay rating: High performing
• Overall rating: High performing

Manorcare Health Services-Fair Oaks, Fairfax

• Short-stay rating: High performing
• Long-stay rating: High performing
• Overall rating: High performing

Burke Health and Rehabilitation Center, Burke

• Short-stay rating: High performing
• Long-stay rating: Average
• Overall rating: Better than average

Manassas Health and Rehab Center, Manassas

• Short-stay rating: Average
• Long-stay rating: Average
• Overall rating: Average

Birmingham Green, Manassas

• Short-stay rating: Average
• Long-stay rating: Average
• Overall rating: Average

Lake Manassas Health & Rehabilitation Center, Gainesville

• Short-stay rating: High performing
• Long-stay rating: High performing
• Overall rating: High performing

Envoy of Woodbridge LLC, Woodbridge

• Short-stay rating: Below average
• Long-stay rating: Average
• Overall rating: Worse than average

Potomac Falls Health & Rehab Center, Sterling

• Short-stay rating: Average
• Long-stay rating: Average
• Overall rating: Average

Dulles Health & Rehab Center, Herndon

• Short-stay rating: High performing
• Long-stay rating: Average
• Overall rating: Better than average

Ashby Ponds, Ashburn

• Short-stay rating: High performing
• Long-stay rating: Average
• Overall rating: Better than average

Heritage Hall, Leesburg

• Short-stay rating: Average
• Long-stay rating: High-performing
• Overall rating: Better than average

Loudoun Nursing and Rehab Center, Leesburg

• Short-stay rating: High performing
• Long-stay rating: High performing
• Overall rating: High performing

Fredericksburg Health and Rehab, Fredericksburg

• Short-stay rating: Average
• Long-stay rating: Average
• Overall rating: Average

Carriage Hill Health and Rehab Center, Fredericksburg

• Short-stay rating: Average
• Long-stay rating: Average
• Overall rating: Average

Falls Run Nursing and Rehab Center, Fredericksburg

• Short-stay rating: High performing
• Long-stay rating: High performing
• Overall rating: High performing

This year, California has the highest number of the top-ranked nursing homes on the list. In all, 201 nursing homes in California received a high-performing rating in short-term rehabilitation, and 94 facilities were designated high-performing in long-term care.

New Jersey, Massachusetts, New York and Pennsylvania follow California for the highest number of top-ranked nursing homes. Florida and Illinois fell from among the top states this year.

In addition to helping families find the best nursing home for their loved one, U.S. News published pieces on understanding vaccine mandates in nursing homes, evaluating a nursing home’s disaster plan and where your money goes when paying for a nursing home.

View this year’s full list of Best Nursing Homes here.

RELATED: 287 Virginia Nursing Homes Make U.S. News 'Best' Ratings