Hawaii is America’s highest rated nursing home state, reports Families for Better Care, a national nursing home resident advocacy group based in Austin. The group published its third state-by-state nursing home report card by analyzing eight federal measures to gauge nursing home quality.
Hawaii scored superior grades in six of eight measures for the second time and scored “A” grades in every staffing category.
“Hawaiians should be proud of their success,” said Brian Lee, Families for Better Care’s executive director. “After being listed in consecutive report cards as being among the Top 10 best nursing home states, Hawaii is finally able to take home this year’s top prize.”
According to the report card, the state’s highest grade related to the percentage of facilities with above average professional nurse staffing—97 percent of nursing homes reported having an abundance of licensed nurses on staff; indicative of a state committed to quality care for elderly and disabled adults.
Despite Hawaii’s strong showing the report also exposed a glaring blemish.
“Ranking No. 40 overall in the percentage of nursing homes with severe deficiencies—which increased by 550 percent since the last report card—certainly underscores more room for improvement,” Lee said. “But overall, Hawaii sets the nursing home quality bar for the rest of the nation this year.”
Hawaii’s 2019 Nursing Home Report Card is available for download at http://www.nursinghomereportcards.com.
ABOUT FAMILIES FOR BETTER CARE
Families for Better Care, Inc. is a non-profit citizen advocacy group dedicated to creating public awareness of the conditions in our nation’s nursing homes and developing solutions for improving quality of life and care. For more information, visit http://familiesforbettercare.com.
