Nursing Homes in Massachusetts- Monthly Analysis & Key Metrics
Data as of March 10, 2024
Reviewed by Richard Saunders
The State 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 Massachusetts- The 10,000 foot view
Updated on March 10, 2024
According to the latest data compiled by NursingHomeDatabase.com, Massachusetts has a total of 347 active skilled nursing facilities and 37,895 beds. Based on the US Census estimates for the population of 6,981,974, the current total bed count represents one bed for every 184.25 persons in Massachusetts. There were 32,304 residents as March 10, 2024 for a state wide occupancy level of 85.25 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, Massachusetts has added 80 new beds and lost 821 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 Massachusetts and a comparison to national averages.
| Staffing Levels | State | National |
|---|---|---|
| Registered Nurse (RN) | 0.66 | 0.65 |
| Certified Nursing Assistants (CNA) | 2.16 | 2.26 |
| Licensed Practical Nurse (LPN) | 0.94 | 0.88 |
| All Staff | 3.76 | 3.78 |
Detailed analysis pages for the largest cities in Massachusetts:
COVID-19 Infections in Massachusetts 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 Massachusetts there were a total of 176 new cases and 176 new deaths among residents for the week ending March 10, 2024. The chart below shows COVID-19 activity for the past year.
New and Lost Nursing Homes in Massachusetts
Massachusetts added 1 new skilled nursing facilities and 80 beds over the past year. Below is list of the new facilities:
| Facility | Number of Beds |
|---|---|
| New England Pediatric Care | 80 |
Massachusetts lost 8 skilled nursing facilities and 821 beds over the past year. Below is list of the lost facilities:
| Facility | Number of Beds |
|---|---|
| Willimansett Center East | 85 |
| Willimansett Center West | 103 |
| Chapin Center | 160 |
| Governors Center | 100 |
| South Dennis Healthcare | 128 |
| Dedham Healthcare | 145 |
| Emerson Rehabilitation and Transitional Care Unit | 20 |
| New England Pediatric Care | 80 |
This data is based on homes reported by CMS. Additional homes may have opened or closed but are not yet in the dataset.
Occupancy Percentages for Massachusetts Nursing Homes
The chart below shows the overall occupancy for nursing home beds in Massachusetts. 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 Massachusetts
The list below shows the best skilled nursing facilities in Massachusetts 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 |
|---|---|
|
Whittier Bradford Transitional Care Unit 145 WARD HILL AVENUE BRADFORD, MA |
2.00 |
|
Whittier Westborough Transitional Care Unit 150 FLANDERS ROAD WESTBOROUGH, MA |
3.33 |
|
Newbridge On The Charles Skilled Nursing Facility 7000 GREAT MEADOW ROAD DEDHAM, MA |
4.00 |
|
The Pavilion 876 FALMOUTH ROAD HYANNIS, MA |
4.00 |
|
Quaboag Rehabilitation and Skilled Care Facility 47 EAST MAIN STREET WEST BROOKFIELD, MA |
4.67 |
|
The Meadows 575 OSGOOD STREET NORTH ANDOVER, MA |
5.33 |
|
D'youville Care For Advanced Therapy 1071 VARNUM AVENUE LOWELL, MA |
6.00 |
|
Brookhaven at Lexington 1010 WALTHAM STREET LEXINGTON, MA |
6.67 |
|
Berkeley Retirement Home,the 150 BERKELEY STREET LAWRENCE, MA |
8.00 |
|
Knollwood Nursing Center 87 BRIARWOOD CIRCLE WORCESTER, MA |
8.67 |
The list below shows the worst skilled nursing facilities in Massachusetts based on their most recent weighted average inspection score.
| Facility | Rating |
|---|---|
|
Charlwell House Health and Rehabilitation 305 WALPOLE STREET NORWOOD, MA |
980.17 |
|
Adviniacare Newburyport 180 LOW STREET NEWBURYPORT, MA |
633.83 / |
|
Tremont Health Care Center 605 MAIN STREET WAREHAM, MA |
622.33 Rating Not Available / |
|
Somerset Ridge Center 455 BRAYTON AVENUE SOMERSET, MA |
449.00 Rating Not Available / |
|
Plymouth Rehabilitation and Health Care Center 123 SOUTH STREET PLYMOUTH, MA |
401.67 |
|
Pioneer Valley Health and Rehabilitation 573 GRANBY RD SOUTH HADLEY, MA |
394.17 |
|
Glen Ridge Nursing Care Center 120 MURRAY STREET MEDFORD, MA |
363.67 / |
|
Parkway Health and Rehabilitation Center 1190 VFW PARKWAY BOSTON, MA |
358.33 / |
|
Royal Norwell Nursing and Rehabilitation Center LLC 329 WASHINGTON STREET NORWELL, MA |
342.67 |
|
Fall River Healthcare 1748 HIGHLAND AVENUE FALL RIVER, MA |
337.33 |
Nursing Homes with the warning icon () have been flagged by CMS for abuse.
Skilled Nursing Homes in Massachusetts Compared to Nationwide
We have compared Massachusetts nursing homes to the nationwide average on several metrics. Massachusetts performed better than the national average on several metrics and worse on other metrics.
| Cycle 1 Total Number Of Health Deficiencies | 11.80 | Higher |
| Cycle 1 Total Number Of Fire Safety Deficiencies | 2.90 | Lower |
| Cycle 2 Total Number Of Health Deficiencies | 11.10 | Higher |
| Cycle 2 Total Number Of Fire Safety Deficiencies | 2.50 | Lower |
| Cycle 3 Total Number Of Health Deficiencies | 9.60 | Higher |
| Cycle 3 Total Number Of Fire Safety Deficiencies | 1.90 | Lower |
| Average Number Of Residents Per Day | 94.30 | Higher |
| Reported Nurse Aide Staffing Hours Per Resident Per Day | 2.16 | Lower |
| Reported Lpn Staffing Hours Per Resident Per Day | 0.94 | Higher |
| Reported Rn Staffing Hours Per Resident Per Day | 0.66 | Higher |
| Reported Licensed Staffing Hours Per Resident Per Day | 1.60 | Higher |
| Reported Total Nurse Staffing Hours Per Resident Per Day | 3.76 | Lower |
| Total Number Of Nurse Staff Hours Per Resident Per Day On The Weekend | 3.33 | Higher |
| Registered Nurse Hours Per Resident Per Day On The Weekend | 0.46 | Higher |
| Reported Physical Therapist Staffing Hours Per Resident Per Day | 0.07 | Lower |
| Total Nursing Staff Turnover | 47.70 | Lower |
| Registered Nurse Turnover | 52.80 | Higher |
| Number Of Administrators Who Have Left The Nursing Home | 0.70 | Lower |
| Case-mix Rn Staffing Hours Per Resident Per Day | 0.31 | Lower |
| Case-mix Total Nurse Staffing Hours Per Resident Per Day | 3.08 | Lower |
| Number Of Fines | 2.40 | Higher |
| Fine Amount In Dollars | 59,027.00 | Higher |
| Percentage Of Long Stay Residents Whose Need For Help With Daily Activities Has Increased | 15.11 | Higher |
| Percentage Of Long Stay Residents Who Lose Too Much Weight | 5.66 | Lower |
| Percentage Of Low Risk Long Stay Residents Who Lose Control Of Their Bowels Or Bladder | 60.62 | Higher |
| Percentage Of Long Stay Residents With A Catheter Inserted And Left In Their Bladder | 1.17 | Lower |
| Percentage Of Long Stay Residents With A Urinary Tract Infection | 2.22 | Higher |
| Percentage Of Long Stay Residents Who Have Depressive Symptoms | 3.19 | Lower |
| Percentage Of Long Stay Residents Who Were Physically Restrained | 0.14 | Higher |
| Percentage Of Long Stay Residents Experiencing One Or More Falls With Major Injury | 3.59 | Higher |
| Percentage Of Long Stay Residents Assessed And Appropriately Given The Pneumococcal Vaccine | 89.25 | Lower |
| Percentage Of Long Stay Residents Who Received An Antipsychotic Medication | 19.90 | Higher |
| Percentage Of Short Stay Residents Assessed And Appropriately Given The Pneumococcal Vaccine | 74.10 | Lower |
| Percentage Of Short Stay Residents Who Newly Received An Antipsychotic Medication | 1.71 | Lower |
| Percentage Of Long Stay Residents Whose Ability To Move Independently Worsened | 15.99 | Higher |
| Percentage Of Long Stay Residents Who Received An Antianxiety Or Hypnotic Medication | 18.37 | Lower |
| Percentage Of High Risk Long Stay Residents With Pressure Ulcers | 6.55 | Lower |
| Percentage Of Long Stay Residents Assessed And Appropriately Given The Seasonal Influenza Vaccine | 93.54 | Lower |
| Percentage Of Short Stay Residents Who Made Improvements In Function | 74.79 | Lower |
| Percentage Of Short Stay Residents Who Were Assessed And Appropriately Given The Seasonal Influenza Vaccine | 73.53 | Lower |
| Percentage Of Short Stay Residents Who Were Rehospitalized After A Nursing Home Admission | 24.79 | Higher |
| Percentage Of Short Stay Residents Who Had An Outpatient Emergency Department Visit | 12.28 | Lower |
| Number Of Hospitalizations Per 1000 Long-stay Resident Days | 1.85 | Lower |
| Number Of Outpatient Emergency Department Visits Per 1000 Long-stay Resident Days | 1.00 | Lower |
