Kings Harbor Care Center

2000 E Gunhill Road, Bronx, New York 10469

Kings Harbor Care Center is located in the Bronx. It has 720 certified beds that have been approved by the federal government to participate in Medicare and Medicaid, with an average of 669 residents per day. Kings Harbor Care Center is not in a Continuing Care Retirement Community, and it is not in a hospital. It has a Resident Council to facilitate communications with the staff. The facility is a for profit corporation doing business under the legal business name of

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) gives each nursing home an overall rating* on a scale of 1 to 5 stars: 5 stars = much above average, 4 stars = above average, 3 stars = average, 2 stars = below average, 1 star = much below average. The CMS also assigns star ratings in the categories of health inspections, staffing, and quality of resident care. The overall rating for Kings Harbor Care Center is 5 stars. The nursing facilities are also regularly inspected to ensure that they are in compliance with fire safety rules.

Health inspections

New York State inspectors regularly conduct full inspections of nursing homes for compliance with federal Medicare and Medicaid regulations. Kings Harbor Care Center’s star rating for health inspections is 4 stars. The date of the most recent health inspection of Kings Harbor Care Center was October 12, 2018. In that report 4 health citations were noted. The average number of citations for New York is 4.8 and the average number of citations in the United States is 7.8.

As part of the inspection process, the CMS completed a “statement of deficiencies” that included the following observations:

• The facility did not ensure that a resident received a written notice, including the reason for the change, before a room change. In addition, the resident was not provided with the opportunity to see the new location and meet the new roommate prior to the room change. Specifically, a resident was verbally informed that she had to change rooms because she was not being discharged after completing her rehab. The resident, who was in a two-bed room, was transferred to a four-bed room without being informed about the type of room or given the opportunity to see the room and meet her new roommates prior to the transfer.
• the facility did not ensure that it promoted and facilitated the residents right to self-determination through support of resident choice. Specifically, a resident informed the Social Worker that she preferred to be in a two-bed room when the facility informed her that she needed to be transferred to a Long Term Care (LTC) unit. This preference was not honored.
• The facility did not ensure that it promoted and facilitated the residents right to self-determination through support of resident choice. Specifically, a resident informed the Social Worker that she preferred to be in a two-bed room when the facility informed her that she needed to be transferred to a LTC unit. This preference was not honored.

In addition, at any time during the year a nursing home may also be inspected based on a complaint submitted by a resident or based on an incident self-reported by the facility. In addition, during the last 3 years, there were no complaints that resulted in citations, and there were 3 occasions in which there were facility-reported incidents that resulted in citations.

Staffing

In rating nursing facilities for staffing the CMS reviews the staffing levels. Specifically, it looks at the number of hours per resident of licensed nurses, registered nurses, nurses aides, licensed practical/vocational nurses (LPN/LVN), and physical therapists. According to the CMS, higher staffing levels may mean better care. In this category, Kings Harbor Care Center received 5 stars.

• The average total number of licensed nurse staff hours per resident per day at Kings Harbor Care Center is 1 hour and 10 minutes, while the New York average is 1 hour and 31 minutes and the national average is 1 hour and 33 minutes.
• The registered nurse hours per resident per day at Kings Harbor Care Center is 26 minutes compared to 42 minutes for New York and 41 minutes for the United States.
• The LPN/LVN hours per resident per day at Kings Harbor Care Center is 44 minutes compared to 49 minutes for New York and 53 minutes for the United States.
• The nurses aid hours per resident per day is 2 hours and 5 minutes, while the New York average is 2 hours and 15 minutes and the national average is 2 hours and 19 minutes.
• Kings Harbor Care Center provides 3 minutes of physical therapist staff hours per resident per day, compared to the New York average is 7 minutes and the national average is 5 minutes. However, not all nursing home residents require physical therapy.

Quality of resident care

Kings Harbor Care Center’s star rating for overall quality of resident care is 5 stars. Facilities are also rated on their quality of care for short-stay residents and long-stay residents. Short-stay residents are those who spent 100 days or less in a nursing home, or residents covered under the Medicare Part A Skilled Nursing Facility benefit. Long-stay residents are those who spent over 100 days in a nursing home. Kings Harbor Care Center also received 5-star ratings for both short-stay residents and long-stay residents.

When evaluating a facility for quality of care, the CMS focuses on statistics related to hospitalizations, specific health care concerns, mobility, and flu and pneumonia prevention.

Hospitalizations. For hospitalizations, CMS’ review of records determined that 22.5% of Kings Harbor Care Center’s short-stay residents were re-hospitalized after a nursing home admission. The average for New York is 20.4% and national average is 22.6%.

As for outpatient emergency department visits, for Kings Harbor Care Center, the percentage of short-stay residents who have had an outpatient emergency department visit is 3.5%, while the New York average is 8.8% and the national average is 10.7%.

As for long-stay residents, for Kings Harbor Care Center, the number of hospitalizations per 1,000 resident days is 1.13, while the New York average is 1.55, and the national average is 1.75.

As for the number of outpatient emergency department visits per 1,000 long-stay residents, for Kings Harbor Care Center the number is days is 0.51, while the New York average is 0.74, and the national average is 1.03.

Pressure ulcers, also referred to as bed sores or pressure injuries, are injuries to skin and underlying tissue resulting from prolonged pressure on the skin, such as staying in one position for a long time. In some, but not all instances, pressure ulcers can be a sign of poor care..5% of the skilled nursing facility residents at Kings Harbor Care Center had pressure ulcers that were new or worsened while residing at this facility. The national average is 1.6%.

In addition, the percentage of long-stay high-risk residents at Kings Harbor Care Center with pressure ulcers is 6.5%, compared to the New York average of 8.6% and the national average of 7.4%.

Nursing facilities are also evaluated for their flu and pneumonia prevention measures. 87.3% of Kings Harbor Care Center’s short-stay residents received the needed flu shot for current flu season. This percentage is higher than both the New York and national averages which stand at 82.6% and 82.3%, respectively. As for the percentage of short-stay residents who needed and got a vaccine to prevent pneumonia, the percentage for Kings Harbor Care Center is 94.6%, while the average for New York is 79.3% and the average for the United States is 83.2%.

After reviewing the records for long-stay residents, the CMS concluded that 99.5% of Kings Harbor Care Center’s long-stay residents received flu shots, compared to the New York average of 97.0%, and the national average of 95.6%. In addition, 99.9% of Kings Harbor Care Center’s long-stay residents received a vaccine to prevent pneumonia. The New York average is 93.6% and the national average is 93.7%.

Penalties

Citations can result in penalties. If the citation is particularly serious or if the nursing home takes a long to cure the citation, the federal government may either fine the nursing home, or deny payment from Medicare. Kings Harbor Care Center has not received a penalty from the federal government in the last 3 years.

Fire safety inspections

Nursing homes that are certified by Medicare and/or Medicaid must meet standards set by the government to ensure residents are safe. Fire safety specialists inspect nursing homes to determine if a nursing home meets the Life Safety Code (LSC) requirements, a set of fire safety and emergency preparedness requirements set by the CMS. These requirements are aimed at preventing fires, or protecting residents in the event of an emergency like a fire, hurricane, tornado, flood, power failure, or gas leak.

The most recent fire safety inspection was October 12, 2018. During that inspection 9 citations were noted which is higher than the New York average of 3.5 and national average of 2.9.

*Disclaimer

The information about the performance of Kings Harbor Care Center is from Medicare.gov and is based on past performance. Past performance is not an indicator of future performance. Further, we recommend that you check the statistics yourself at Medicare.gov for both accuracy and updates. Choosing a nursing home is a very difficult decision, and we make no representation as to the quality of any of the facilities or their ratings on the site.

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