Nursing Homes in Santa Cruz, CA- Monthly Analysis & Key Metrics
Data as of April 7, 2024
Reviewed by Richard Saunders
The City Level Skilled Nursing Home Analysis Report
Recently, the Biden administration announced a goal of improving nursing home care, as highlighted in several important announcements (see the initial announcement and a subsequent announcement). While this is a commendable goal, it is not entirely clear what the best approach is for achieving it. Proposing minimum staffing levels for all nursing homes simplifies a complicated issue. Nursing Homes address a wide range of resident needs, from short-term rehabilitation to long-term care to dementia and memory issues, that require different levels of care. It also fails to address a national staffing shortage that will likely only worsen.
At NursingHomeDatabase.com, we believe that one critical element of any improvement effort is to have access to good, clear data and analysis that can help everyone understand the current state of affairs, identify trends, and track progress over time. To this end, we have built this series of reports that will try to illuminate the key metrics of nursing home performance for each state. Our reports are designed to provide valuable insights and inform policymakers, healthcare providers, and families who are interested in nursing home care.
The analysis for the state level report cards of nursing home care is primarily derived from data that the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid ("CMS") provides. CMS publishes weekly data about nursing home occupancy and COVID-19 infections and publishes monthly reports with ratings, staffing levels, and deficiencies.
Summary Analysis of Nursing Homes in Santa Cruz
The 10,000 foot view
Updated on April 7, 2024
This analysis is based on homes within a 25 mile radius of the city.
According to the latest data compiled by NursingHomeDatabase.com, Santa Cruz has a total of 43 active skilled nursing facilities and 4,267 beds. Based on a recent US Census estimate of the population of Santa Cruz of 176,428, the current total bed count represents one bed for every 41.35 persons in Santa Cruz. There were 3,685 residents in nursing homes as April 7, 2024 for a city wide occupancy level of 86.36 percent. (Note that the home count is based on monthly data provided by CMS and the number of beds and the occupancy numbers are based on weekly data. There is a minor number of homes that do not report their data weekly.)
According to the monthly data, Santa Cruz has added 0 new beds and lost 0 existing beds over the past year.
The Biden Administration has announced that it wants to regulate minimum nursing home staffing levels. They have proposed minimums of .55 hours of care per resident per day from registered nurses (RNs) and 2.45 hours of care per resident per day certified nursing aids (CNAs). These are the current level amount of hours per resident per day of care for Santa Cruz and a comparison to the state and national averages:
| Staffing Levels | City | State / National |
|---|---|---|
| Registered Nurse (RN) | 0.71 | 0.58 / 0.65 |
| Certified Nursing Assistants (CNA) | 2.49 | 2.56 / 2.26 |
| Licensed Practical Nurse (LPN) | 1.11 | 1.23 / 0.88 |
| All Staff | 4.31 | 4.37 / 3.78 |
State Analysis: Look here for the latest nursing home analysis for California.
COVID-19 Infections in Santa Cruz Nursing Homes
While COVID-19 infections and deaths are down significantly from late 2020 and 2021, the number of infections and deaths continues to be monitored. For nursing homes in Santa Cruz there were a total of 18 new cases and 18 new deaths among residents for the week ending April 7, 2024. The chart below shows COVID-19 activity for the past year.
New and Lost Nursing Homes in Santa Cruz
No new homes were reported by CMS over the past twelve months.
No homes were removed by CMS over the past twelve months.
Occupancy Percentages for Santa Cruz Nursing Homes
The chart below shows the overall occupancy for nursing home beds in Santa Cruz, CA. Occupancies levels for individual facilities will differ and can be found on the detail page for the specific nursing home.
Best and Worst Nursing Homes in Santa Cruz
The list below shows the best skilled nursing facilities in Santa Cruz based on their most recent weighted average inspection score. Some nursing homes may have higher overall 5-star ratings than the homes on this list. We feel that the health inspection score is the best indicator of current operations. It changes quicker than the overall rating.
| Facility | Rating |
|---|---|
|
Pacific Coast Post Acute 720 EAST ROMIE LANE SALINAS, CA |
62.00 |
|
Greenhills Manor 238 VIRGINIA AVENUE CAMPBELL, CA |
18.67 |
|
Pacific Coast Manor 1935 WHARF ROAD CAPITOLA, CA |
56.00 |
|
O'connor Hospital D/p Snf 2105 FOREST AVENUE SAN JOSE, CA |
33.60 |
|
Lincoln Glen Skilled Nursing 2671 PLUMMER AVENUE SAN JOSE, CA |
42.00 |
|
Health Care Ctr at The Forum at Rancho San Antonio 23600 VIA ESPLENDOR CUPERTINO, CA |
26.00 |
|
Creekside Post-Acute 3580 PAYNE AVENUE SAN JOSE, CA |
60.67 |
|
Childrens Hc Org No Ca Saratoga Pediatric Subacute 13425 SOUSA LANE SARATOGA, CA |
37.33 |
|
Childrens Hc Org No Ca -Pediatric Hospital D/p Snf 3777 SOUTH BASCOM AVENUE CAMPBELL, CA |
25.33 |
|
Saratoga Retirement Community Health Center 14500 FRUITVALE AVENUE SARATOGA, CA |
36.67 |
The list below shows the worst skilled nursing facilities in Santa Cruz based on their most recent weighted average inspection score.
| Facility | Rating |
|---|---|
|
Skyline Healthcare Center - San Jose 2065 FOREST AVENUE SAN JOSE, CA |
217.33 |
|
The Redwoods Post-Acute 1267 MERIDIAN AVENUE SAN JOSE, CA |
234.33 / |
|
Cupertino Healthcare and Wellness Center 22590 VOSS AVENUE CUPERTINO, CA |
223.33 |
|
Hearts and Hands, Post Acute Care and Rehab Center 2990 SOQUEL AVENUE SANTA CRUZ, CA |
175.00 |
|
The Terraces of Los Gatos 800 BLOSSOM HILL ROAD LOS GATOS, CA |
102.00 |
|
Westwood Post Acute 1601 PETERSEN AVENUE SAN JOSE, CA |
206.00 |
|
Driftwood Healthcare Center - Santa Cruz 675 24TH AVENUE SANTA CRUZ, CA |
97.33 |
|
Watsonville Post Acute Center 525 AUTO CENTER DRIVE WATSONVILLE, CA |
118.67 |
|
White Blossom Care Center 1990 FRUITDALE AVENUE SAN JOSE, CA |
102.67 |
|
Vasona Creek Healthcare Center 16412 LOS GATOS BOULEVARD LOS GATOS, CA |
123.33 |
Nursing Homes with the warning icon () have been flagged by CMS for abuse.
