Nursing Homes in Merrillville, IN- Monthly Analysis & Key Metrics
Data as of March 24, 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 Merrillville
The 10,000 foot view
Updated on March 24, 2024
This analysis is based on homes within a 25 mile radius of the city.
According to the latest data compiled by NursingHomeDatabase.com, Merrillville has a total of 35 active skilled nursing facilities and 3,806 beds. Based on a recent US Census estimate of the population of Merrillville of 34,792, the current total bed count represents one bed for every 9.14 persons in Merrillville. There were 2,907 residents in nursing homes as March 24, 2024 for a city wide occupancy level of 76.38 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, Merrillville 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 Merrillville and a comparison to the state and national averages:
| Staffing Levels | City | State / National |
|---|---|---|
| Registered Nurse (RN) | 0.61 | 0.63 / 0.65 |
| Certified Nursing Assistants (CNA) | 2.11 | 2.22 / 2.26 |
| Licensed Practical Nurse (LPN) | 0.90 | 0.78 / 0.88 |
| All Staff | 3.62 | 3.63 / 3.78 |
State Analysis: Look here for the latest nursing home analysis for Indiana.
COVID-19 Infections in Merrillville 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 Merrillville there were a total of 31 new cases and 31 new deaths among residents for the week ending March 24, 2024. The chart below shows COVID-19 activity for the past year.
New and Lost Nursing Homes in Merrillville
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 Merrillville Nursing Homes
The chart below shows the overall occupancy for nursing home beds in Merrillville, IN. 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 Merrillville
The list below shows the best skilled nursing facilities in Merrillville 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 |
|---|---|
|
Miller's Merry Manor 5909 LUTE RD PORTAGE, IN |
11.33 |
|
Avalon Springs Health Campus 2400 SILHAVY ROAD VALPARAISO, IN |
22.67 |
|
Ignite Medical Resort Crown Point LLC 1555 S MAIN STREET CROWN POINT, IN |
37.33 |
|
Brickyard Healthcare - Valparaiso Care Center 251 STURDY RD VALPARAISO, IN |
16.00 |
|
Cedar Creek Health Campus 18275 BURR STREET LOWELL, IN |
36.67 |
|
Park Place Health and Wellness Center 10820 PARK PLACE SAINT JOHN, IN |
34.67 |
|
Lowell Healthcare 710 MICHIGAN ST LOWELL, IN |
17.33 |
|
Life Care Center of Valparaiso 3405 N CAMPBELL RD VALPARAISO, IN |
40.67 |
|
Life Care Center of Michigan City 802 US HIGHWAY 20 EAST MICHIGAN CITY, IN |
61.33 |
|
Symphony of Chesterton LLC 2775 VILLAGE POINT CHESTERTON, IN |
42.67 |
The list below shows the worst skilled nursing facilities in Merrillville based on their most recent weighted average inspection score.
| Facility | Rating |
|---|---|
|
Life Care Center of The Willows 1000 ELIZABETH DR VALPARAISO, IN |
94.67 |
|
Casa of Hobart 4410 W 49TH AVE HOBART, IN |
216.17 |
|
Aperion Care Arbors Michigan City 1101 E COOLSPRING AVE MICHIGAN CITY, IN |
293.67 / |
|
Aperion Care Demotte 10352 N 600 E COUNTY LINE RD DEMOTTE, IN |
76.00 |
|
Aperion Care Tolleston Park 2350 TAFT ST GARY, IN |
150.83 |
|
Spring Mill Health Campus 101 W 87TH AVE MERRILLVILLE, IN |
102.00 |
|
South Shore Health and Rehabilitation Center 353 TYLER ST GARY, IN |
106.00 |
|
Brickyard Healthcare - Portage Care Center 3175 LANCER ST PORTAGE, IN |
93.33 / |
|
Hammond-Whiting Care Center 1000 114TH ST WHITING, IN |
83.33 / |
|
Harbor Health and Rehab 5025 MCCOOK AVE EAST CHICAGO, IN |
209.00 |
Nursing Homes with the warning icon () have been flagged by CMS for abuse.
