By RYAN SCOTT OTTNEY

PDT Staff Writer

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) this month unveiled its new Five-Star Quality Rating System, evaluating nursing homes from one-to-five stars. Eight local nursing homes were rated — including two with four stars or higher.

The system rates nursing homes in areas of health inspections, nursing home staffing, and quality measures, and assigns it an overall rating. According to HHS, the Five-Star Quality Rating System was created “to help consumers, their families, and caregivers compare nursing homes more easily and help identify areas about which you may want to ask questions.”

In the city of Portsmouth, Crystal Care Center earned an overall rating of five stars; Hill View Retirement Center earned four stars; Heartland of Portsmouth earned two stars; Hempstead Manor earned two stars; and Golden Years Convalescent Center earned one star.

“We’re a 25-bed facility, so we can monitor our residents very well, and each and every employee knows every resident in our facility. So therefore, we have many eyes that are monitoring the progress of a resident in our facility,” Kim Nye, Crystal Care Center Administrator, said.

Nye said the rating proves to him that the employees of Crystal Care Center are really dedicated to the care of their residents. He said in addition to their local ratings, the facility also placed within the top 12-percent in the nation.

Rest Haven Nursing Home in McDermott, as well as Best Care Nursing and Rehabilitation Center and Liberty Nursing Center, both in Wheelersburg, earned a one-star rating.

In September, Liberty Nursing Home (formerly known as Greenbriar Nursing Center) was forced to close after state health officials terminated the home’s Medicare and Medicaid provider agreement. Owner Linda Black-Kurek called the state’s actions “excessive and unfair.” She said notice of termination of the home’s provider agreements with the federal programs was taken “because, during a July 7 survey (by a worker from the Ohio Department of Health) our facility received two isolated deficiencies involving one resident that did not result in any harm to the resident.”

A complete list of national nursing home ratings can be found online at http://cms.hhs.gov.

RYAN SCOTT OTTNEY can be reached at (740) 353-3101, ext. 235.