According to a January 16, 2011 report by the Journal Gazette, the Fort Wayne nursing home facilities of Riverbend Health Care Center and Covington Manor Health and Rehabilitation Center received the lowest star rating of ‘one star’ given by Medicare.gov’s nursing home comparison system.  The ratings represent how a facility performs compared to other certified Medicare/Medicaid facilities and range in scale from one star for ‘much below average’ to five stars for ‘much above average’.  Riverbend Health Care Center and Covington Manor Health and Rehabilitation Center are among 97 other facilities across Indiana that received the one star rating.  Facilities are rated on the Nursing Home Comparison scale if they are certified to participate in Medicare and/or Medicaid and if they provide a level of ‘skilled’ care, such as physical therapy or perform skilled nursing procedures.  The star rating is based on the last three inspection results for the facility.  Covington Manor received 11 deficiencies in its inspection from January 2010, 18 in 2009, and 25 in 2008.  Riverbend’s latest inspection from October 2009 resulted in 10 deficiencies, and reportedly had 41 and 36 in 2008 & 2007 respectively.  The Riverbend Health Care Center was cited in its inspection for improper food handling, failure to keep the facility free of dangers, and a lack of necessary housekeeping and maintenance, among other items.

Ratings for all of the facilities as well as information on the comparison system can be found at www.medicare.gov/nhcompare.