WCCC Rated as Four Star Facility

Beverly Miller, the WCCC Director of Nursing, reported that the WCCC has been given a four star rating by Medicare at the regular WCCC Board Meeting Wednesday.. The Medicare.gov website has ratings of all the area nursing homes and the facility is one of the best in the area. King City is the only five-star facility in the area; Miller reported that it is very hard to get or keep. The others all have three or four star ratings with one with a one star rating.
Their rating criteria also includes surveys and complaints. There were two incidents which resulted in a deficiency and two self-reported deficiencies by the WCCC over the last three years. If a facility has a bad survey year, it can take a long time for it to disappear off the record. The facility was assessed no money in civil or administrative penalties for violations. The WCCC can use their rating for promotional and marketing purposes.
One of the main advantages of the facility is that it is a Missouri political subdivision with an elected, all-volunteer board; the WCCC is the only one in the area which is elected. Therefore, everything that comes in goes back into the facility instead of paying the salaries of a CEO or board members like for-profit facilities do. Another advantage is the amount of time that employees work with each resident; the employees help make decisions on who gets to go home and who gets to work on low census days. The facility also strives to recognize good employees on a regular basis.
The star ratings are also a way for families to compare facilities when looking for a place for a loved one to come to. The state and federal inspectors focus on something different every year; Miller said that belonging to an association was an advantage for the WCCC because they could keep abreast of the changes that were coming.
Secretary Jozy Moyer ran the meeting in the absence of Board President Scott Houk.
The minutes of last month’s meeting were clarified to reflect that Administrator Karen Fletchall had the OK to purchase board-approved water heaters in the event that the present system breaks down beyond repair.
The facility was in the red for the month. The WCCC received a private donation which helped with some expenses. On the negative side, the WCCC received less money in Medicare reimbursements. The census was back up to 30 residents; one was discharged back to her home Wednesday. Fletchall said that they were looking for places to purchase supplies cheaper and trying to tighten everything that they can. Fletchall reported that nearly all of the new cooling system was put in, which will save energy costs for the facility in the long run.
Fletchall represented the facility in the National Earthquake Drill last month in which participants acted out a scenario and received feedback. National Nursing Home Week was held last month and resident Etha Pearl Ray participated in an area pageant for nursing home residents. Employee Sandy Findley was recognized as Missouri Health Care Association District 2 CNA of the Year and will compete at the state level in August. Employees are doing Relay for Life Fundraisers.
The board approved changes to the employee manual regarding dress and appearance, attendance, and absenteeism. Fletchall said that the changes were necessary because they needed to be more specific about expectations and consequences. They could protect the WCCC so that they wouldn’t have to cover someone’s unemployment benefits in the event they were terminated. Fletchall said that it was not a matter of problems coming up but that it was just a matter of being proactive and acting before problems happened.