WEST CHESTER — Benchmark, a human connection company and leading provider of senior living services in the Northeast, today announced that Wellington at Hershey’s Mill, a Benchmark continuing care retirement community in West Chester, Pa., has been selected by U.S. News & World Report as having some of the best skilled nursing and rehabilitation care in the country.
Wellington is recognized in U.S. News’ annual Best Nursing Homes for 2019 – 2020, which is out today following an evaluation of over 15,000 facilities. The community is now among an elite list of communities nationwide; less than 3% of U.S. nursing homes were recognized as being “high-performers” for both short and long-term care. In addition, Wellington was the only skilled nursing facility in West Chester to earn the Best Nursing Homes distinction.
Wellington was one of only 420 facilities nationwide to earn the highest score possible for its overall operations, the new long-term care rating for those receiving care for more than 100 days and the updated short-stay rehabilitation rating. New to last year’s survey, the short-stay rehabilitation rating is designed to provide patients with a clearer view of the quality of care provided by nursing homes to short-stay patients staying at the facility for less than 100 days. These residents are generally in need of intensive rehabilitation or nursing services before they return home after a surgery, stroke, accident or illness.
Facilities were evaluated based on a number of criteria, including the availability of appropriate rehabilitation services, care, safety, health inspections, staffing and consistent performance across all national quality measures. In addition, the ratings relied on some of the data from Nursing Home Compare, a program run by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) that sets and enforces standards for nursing homes, including outcome and quality measures, health inspections and nursing staffing hours.
To be recognized as one of the 2019-20 U.S. News Best Nursing Homes, a facility must
have been “high performing” in short-term rehabilitation, long-term care or both. Only 2,969 met those criteria out of the 15,530 nursing homes evaluated by U.S. News. Of the 2,969, 2,250 facilities were selected as being “high performing” for short-term rehabilitation and 1,139 for long-term rehabilitation. Of the 1,139, only 420 nursing homes received both distinctions.
“Our compassionate, experienced associates are called to care every day for our residents and work to be the Benchmark. So, it’s encouraging to have our care recognized by U.S. News and to be in such an elite group,” says Doug Buttner, executive director of Wellington at Hershey’s Mill. “Our rigorous internal auditing process coupled with our associates’ commitment to keeping our residents connected to who and what matters most is really what drives our excellent care.”
Located in the heart of scenic, historic Chester County, Pa., Wellington at Hershey’s Mill is a continuing care retirement community offering exceptional, maintenance-free senior housing, a wide variety of premium services and amenities and a full continuum of on-site health care. The first phase of an $8 million renovation to the independent living side of the community was completed last month. In addition to being a 2019 – 2020 U.S. News Best Nursing Home, the community received the 2018 Bronze Commitment to Quality Award from the American Health Care Association and National Center for Assisted Living. It also holds a coveted 5-star overall quality rating from CMS.
To view the U.S. News Nursing Home Finder visit http://health.usnews.com/best-nursing-homes.
