Tuscaloosa VA's Longterm Care Facility Earns First 5-Star Rating

TUSCALOOSA, AL — The Tuscaloosa VA Medical Center on Thursday announced that its Community Living Center (CLC) has achieved an overall 5-star rating for the first time in the medical center's history.

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The Community Living Center is a long-term care facility, offering what is viewed by most as nursing home care.

The Tuscaloosa VA says the 5-star overall rating is based on metrics that include quality, staffing, and unannounced survey weight scores, before touting marked improvements for the Community Living Center since 2018.

Leadership at the medical center pointed out that staffing ratios have improved since 2017, with the Community Living Center employing almost seven times more RN case-mix adjusted hours per resident day than the national Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) average of non-VA long-term care facilities

On the survey end, the Community Living Center has reportedly been surveyed 13 times since 2011, going on to implement various leadership changes and construction enhancements, other with over initiatives.

“This major achievement is in line with my vision for our facility and that is to be the best place for our Veterans and staff and to contribute to their life-long health and wellbeing," Tuscaloosa VA Medical Center Director John F. Merkle said. "I am immensely proud to lead the Tuscaloosa VA Medical Center and I hope that all eligible Veterans in West Alabama will trust us for their care, not just at the end of life, but also across their continuum of care.”

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