Steere House News

Steere House Recognized In 2024 U.S. News ‘Best’ List

U.S. News & World Report rated more than 15,000 nursing homes in its annual report. Here’s how it rated Rhode Island’s nursing homes.

Jimmy Bentley, Patch Staff
Posted Tue Nov 14, 2023 at 2:21 pm ET

RHODE ISLAND — Six Rhode Island nursing homes received a 5 — the highest possible rating — this year in U.S. News & World Report’s annual rating.

The rankings service rated more than 15,000 nursing homes in the country based on patient and resident outcomes, such as infection rates; staffing levels; reliance on antipsychotic drugs; health inspection results, and other quality indicators.

Here are the nursing homes that received an overall rating of five for 2024 in Rhode Island:

  • Kent Regency Center, Warwick
  • Cedar Crest Nursing Centre, Cranston
  • Cherry Hill Manor, Johnston
  • Linn Health and Rehabilitation, East Providence
  • Steere House Nursing and Rehabilitation Center, Providence
  • Tockwotton on the Waterfront, East Providence.

The authors found that nearly one in five of the evaluated nursing homes were recognized as “Best Nursing Homes” in “Short-Term Rehabilitation,” “Long-Term Care,” or both. More than 1,800 cities and towns had at least one “Best Nursing Home.” In Rhode Island, eight nursing homes were recognized as “high performing” for short stays, and eight received recognition for long stays.

High-Performing for Short Stays

  • Kent Regency Center, Warwick
  • Cedar Crest Nursing Centre, Cranston
  • Cherry Hill Manor, Johnston
  • Linn Health and Rehabilitation, East Providence
  • Steere House Nursing and Rehabilitation Center, Providence
  • Tockwotton on the Waterfront, East Providence
  • Hattie Ide Chaffee Home, East Providence
  • Saint Elizabeth Home, East Greenwich.

High-Performing for Long Stays

  • Kent Regency Center, Warwick
  • Cedar Crest Nursing Centre, Cranston
  • Cherry Hill Manor, Johnston
  • Steere House Nursing and Rehabilitation Center, Providence
  • Tockwotton on the Waterfront, East Providence
  • Briarcliffe Manor, Johnston
  • Holiday Retirement Home, Manville
  • Respiratory and Rehabilitation Center of Rhode Island, Coventry.

More than 1.4 million people live in Medicare- and Medicaid-certified nursing homes across the nation, Dr. Michael Tehrani, a geriatric physician and founder and CEO of MedWell Medical in Long Beach, California, told U.S. News last month. Most people who use long-term care services are at least 65 years old, with 83 percent of nursing home residents being in that older age bracket. Residents typically have a chronic condition — such as arthritis, heart disease, diabetes, or Alzheimer’s disease — that requires ongoing care.

The U.S. News authors said the latest data showed that fewer than 5 percent of evaluated nursing homes met both existing staffing requirements and newly proposed staffing requirements by the Biden administration.
More than 2,500 cities and towns have at least one nursing home rated as “below average.” Furthermore, over 400 nursing homes consistently failed to have a registered nurse available for at least eight hours a day, seven days a week — as required by federal regulators — and only 701 met both existing requirements and more stringent staffing requirements recently proposed by the Biden administration, the report found.

Nursing homes that met both staffing standards are 54 times more likely to be rated a “Best Nursing Home” by U.S. News than those that consistently failed to meet the current standard, the U.S. News said in a news release. Additionally, 445 nursing homes that received 4 or 5 stars from the U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services were rated 1 or 2 out of 5 by U.S. News.

Methodology
U.S. News evaluated nursing homes using various quality measures from CMS. This includes data on resident care, safety, outcomes, and other aspects of quality. Short- and long-term ratings include data on nurse staffing, use of antipsychotic drugs, and success in preventing emergency room and hospital visits.

The long-term care rating also included measures of whether a home changed ownership and how well they were staffed on weekends. “U.S. News’ Best Nursing Homes ratings give patients, senior residents, their families and caregivers an objective assessment of quality, to help them choose the facility that best fits their individual needs,” Daniel Lara Agudelo, health data analyst at U.S. News, said in a statement. “Nursing homes that have earned the recognition of U.S. News have a track record of achieving better outcomes for patients and residents, and maximizing the amount of care they receive from nurses and other staff.”