Leavitt Family Jewish Home Awarded CMS Five-star Quality Rating
LONGMEADOW — JGS Lifecare, a leading healthcare system serving seniors and their families, announced that the Leavitt Family Jewish Home has received a prestigious five-star quality rating from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS). This designation reflects the highest number of stars allotted to a skilled-nursing facility. Currently, there are a select number of nursing homes that have been awarded this distinction. The Leavitt Family Jewish Home offers both short-term rehabilitation services and long-term comprehensive care.
“What a tremendous accomplishment it is by our staff to achieve a five-star rating from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services,” said Rob Whitten, president of JGS Lifecare, the nonprofit that operates the Leavitt Family Jewish Home. “These are extremely hard times for the healthcare industry in our state and our country, and this designation speaks volumes about the incredible employees we have at the Leavitt Family Jewish Home. Earning this five-star designation is a testament to our skilled and compassionate staff, our strong commitment to excellence, and our dedication as an organization to provide the highest caliber of care possible.”
To receive a five-star rating, nursing homes are judged by three components. Health inspections are one means of evaluating a residence. The rating is based upon information from the last three years of on-site inspections, including both standard surveys and complaint surveys. Secondly, a rating is given based upon staffing, which details information about the number of hours of care provided on average to each resident each day by nursing staff and other healthcare providers. The final category involves quality measures, including data on how well nursing homes are caring for their residents’ physical and clinical needs.
Today, the five-star rating system has become a critical tool for the public to measure the quality and performance of a skilled nursing facility, as nursing homes with five stars are considered well above average quality, Whitten said, adding that “we work very hard, day in and day out, to achieve and maintain this five-star rating. We are so proud of our staff.”