For third year in a row, SRMC's Long-Term Care Center receives 5-Star rating

Sidney Regional Medical Center's Long-Term Center  announced its designation as a 5-star facility for the third straight year on the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Hospital Care Compare website. The 5-star rating is a testament to the exceptional quality of care and commitment to a patient's well-being demonstrated by the hospital's dedicated team of physicians and staff.

As we get older, it can become more and more difficult to take care of ourselves in the same ways that we used to. Also as we age, physical and mental changes can affect our ability to move and get around, to keep up a social itinerary, or to take care of our homes. If you’re an adult child of an aging parent, you may start seeing this in your own older family members.

Even though long-term nursing care facilities are, by design, supposed to provide intermediate (advanced custodial care) and skilled care to those whose needs rise above simple custodial care, sometimes the quality of this care causes concern for family members.

CMS created the Five-Star Quality Rating System to help consumers, their families, and caregivers compare nursing homes more easily and to help identify areas about which you may want to ask questions.  The Nursing Home Care Compare  website features a quality rating system that gives each nursing home a rating of between 1 and 5 stars.  Nursing homes with 5 stars are considered to have much above average quality and nursing homes with 1 star are considered to have quality much below average.  There is one Overall 5-star rating for each nursing home, and separate ratings for the areas such as health inspections, staffing and quality measures.

Sidney resident Shirley Combs made the choice to entrust SRMC's LTC Center with her 100-year old mother's care. “It takes a lot of care and patience to take care of a 100-year old woman, and they do a great job. She gets her hair done, she is always clean and comfortable and whenever she has an appointment they call me and let me know. Dr. Allard comes to the home on a regular basis and it all just works out so well. They always have activities for the residents and the staff makes it a point to encourage my mother to participate which means a great deal to her.””

Judy Frerichs, the VP of Extended Care Services at Sidney Regional Medical Center said, “It is important for a family member to trust the facility in which one is placing their loved one and this 5-Star program tries to help community members find the “right” place.” She goes on to say, “We are people taking care of people and perfection is not attainable, however high quality of care is and that is what SRMC-LTC strives for”.  This recognition helps staff feel rewarded by their service/care being acknowledged as high quality.”

If you would like more information on the SRMC Long-Term Care Center or would like to schedule a tour of the facility, please call Susan or Michelle at 308-254-7303.