Summer 2009

Dooley Center Sees Stars

People who live or work here have always claimed that Dooley Center is the best, but now the most respected names in nursing homes have publicly agreed

In March, U.S. News and World Report issued its “Best Nursing Homes: The U.S. News Honor Roll.” The article states, “Of the 15,000-plus nursing homes newly ranked by U.S. News, only the 27 listed below garnered a perfect five stars in each of the four yardsticks the federal government applies to nursing homes: overall rating, health inspections, nurse staffing, and quality measures of individual care.” Dooley Center was one of the tiny fraction of one percent to make this elite list.
The centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), the federal organization that regulates nursing homes, has implemented a 5-star rating system for nursing homes, the results of which are posted for the public on CMS’s nursing home comparison website.

For a number of years, CMS has had survey history, staffing data and, most recently, quality measures for all long-term care facilities in the country on this website to help consumers make informed choices when choosing a nursing home. CMS has now added the ratings, which include an overall rating, as well as showing the ratings for the three areas that make up that overall rating: survey history, staffing, and quality measures. The top rating of 5 stars signifies that the home is “much above average.”

Dooley Center not only received 5 stars overall, but 5 stars in each category. No other facility in the state of Kansas has received a 5-star rating in all categories, and only 33 in the entire country have done so.