Elant at Fishkill Nursing Home & Rehabilitation Center Earns FIVE STAR Rating

June 2, 2010 - PRLog -- Beacon – Elant at Fishkill has been awarded a Five Star rating by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services for its overall quality. A Five Star rating is the highest rating possible.

The Five-Star Quality Rating System was created to help consumers, their families, and caregivers compare nursing homes more easily at Medicare.gov and help identify areas about which an interested party may want to ask questions. Nursing home ratings are taken from health inspections, staffing, and quality measures. These three ratings are combined to calculate an overall rating.

“I am very proud of the Elant at Fishkill team; the Five Star rating is a reflection of our staff’s efforts to personalize the care and services they provide,” said George Michaels, vice president and executive director of Elant at Fishkill. “Staff build relationships with our residents and their families from which their genuine concern drives quality performance.”

Nursing homes vary in the quality of care and services they provide to their residents. The rating system offers a "snap shot" of the care individual nursing homes give. Although 2010 figures have not been made available yet, 2009 figures demonstrate that of roughly 640 Medicare and Medicaid-certified nursing homes in New York, only 39 non-profits earned Five Star ratings.

“The Five Star rating earned by Elant at Fishkill is a reflection of how committed the staff is to offering personalized attention to our residents,” said Nick Lanza, senior vice president in charge of Operations for Elant, Inc. “They epitomize the mission of the Elant organization to our community.”

In addition to the Five Star rating, Elant at Fishkill was recently deemed deficiency-free by New York State Department of Health surveyors. Only seven percent of all nursing homes surveyed in New York State in 2009 achieved “Substantial Compliance,” which means they were deficiency-free or received only minor deficiencies.

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Elant, Inc., a community-based, not-for-profit organization, has been a part of the Hudson Valley healthcare landscape for the past 25 years. Its seven campuses, located across five counties, serve an estimated 3,500 people daily and provide sub-acute care and rehabilitation services, nursing home care, assisted living, adult day care, retirement community living, home health care, and a managed long-term care plan. Elant’s mission is to provide personalized, high-quality care and lifestyle options to persons of diverse generations, cultures, means, and needs.