Feds Update Nursing Home Ratings: See NYC's Grades

NEW YORK – Government rankings for New York City's Medicare-certified nursing homes found that several were average at best, with one facility classed as "much beyond average."

The Concord Nursing and Rehabilitation Center on Madison Street in Bed-Stuy earned just one star in the inspection assessments – the worst in the city.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services last month revised its inspection process, changes aimed at providing more transparent and meaningful information about the quality of care that residents receive.

The ratings found that, of 11 examined, five homes were considered average or below. Another two were above average, with four "much above average.

Below are the ratings for each nursing home in New York City as of April 24, according to the agency’s Nursing Home Compare tool. The site provides detailed information about every Medicare-certified nursing home in America. Nursing homes with five stars are considered to have above-average quality while those with one star are considered to have below-average quality.

• New Gouverneur Hospital, 227 Madison St.
  • Overall: 5
  • Health inspections: 5
  • Staffing: 4
  • Quality measures: 5
  • Overall ranking: Much Above Average
• Village Care Rehabilitation And Nursing Center, 214 W Houston St.
  • Overall: 5
  • Health inspections: 4
  • Staffing: 3
  • Quality measures: 5
  • Overall ranking: Much Above Average
• Cobble Hill Health Center Inc, 380 Henry St., Brooklyn
  • Overall: 5
  • Health inspections: 4
  • Staffing: 2
  • Quality measures: 5
  • Overall ranking: Much Above Average
• Downtown Brooklyn Nursing & Rehabilitation Center. 520 Prospect Place, Brooklyn
  • Overall: 5
  • Health inspections: 4
  • Staffing: 2
  • Quality measures: 5
  • Overall ranking: Much Above Average
• Oxford Nursing Home, 144 S Oxford Street, Brooklyn
  • Overall: 4
  • Health inspections: 4
  • Staffing: 1
  • Quality measures: 5
  • Overall ranking: Above average
• New Carlton Rehab And Nursing Center, 405 Carlton Ave, Brooklyn
  • Overall: 4
  • Health inspections: 4
  • Staffing: 1
  • Quality measures: 5
  • Overall ranking: Above average
• New East Side Nursing Home, 2 Bialystoker Place
  • Overall: 3
  • Health inspections: 3
  • Staffing: 3
  • Quality measures: 4
  • Overall measure: Average
• The Phoenix Rehabilitation And Nursing Center, 140 St Edwards St., Brooklyn
  • Overall: 3
  • Health inspections: 2
  • Staffing: 2
  • Quality measures: 5
  • Overall measure: Average
• Hopkins Center For Rehabilitation And Healthcare, 155 Dean St, Brooklyn
  • Overall: 3
  • Health inspections: 3
  • Staffing: 2
  • Quality measures: 3
  • Overall measure: Average
• Bedford Center For Nursing And Rehabilitation, 40 Heyward St., Brooklyn
  • Overall rating: 3
  • Health inspections: 2
  • Staffing: 3
  • Quality measures: 5
  • Overall measure: Average
• Concord Nursing And Rehabilitation Center, 300 Madison St., Brooklyn
  • Overall: 1
  • Health inspections: 2
  • Staffing: 1
  • Quality measures: 4
  • Overall measure: Much Below Average

The threshold for staffing levels is also much more stringent now. Under the previous method, automatic one-star ratings (out of five) would be doled out to nursing homes that reported having no registered nurse on site for at least seven days in a quarter. That threshold has since been lowered to four days.

Nursing homes provide round-the-clock care to people who can’t be cared for at home and staffing has the “greatest impact” on the quality of care, the federal agency said — more staff equals better quality.

“CMS is committed to safeguarding the health and safety of nursing home residents by ensuring they are receiving the highest quality of care possible,” agency Administrator Seema Verm said in a news release.

There are more than 15,000 Medicare and Medicaid-certified nursing homes in the country, and the CMS doled out one-star ratings to more than 1,600 of them, according to Kaiser Health News. Most were reportedly downgraded because payroll records showed no registered nurse hours for at least four days. Other homes reportedly failed to submit payroll documents or couldn’t be verified.

CMS is a federal agency in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. It administers the Medicare program and works with state governments to administer Medicaid, the Children's Health Insurance Program, and health insurance portability standards.

Patch national staffer Dan Hampton contributed to this report.