Founded in 1975, JABA is Central Virginia’s leading provider of information and services for seniors

Our mission is to promote, establish and preserve sustainable communities for healthy aging that benefit individuals and families of all ages.

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Helping Your Loved Ones Age in Place

Star Ratings for Nursing Homes

The Five Star ratings are based on a wealth of information compiled routinely by The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services –– or CMS. CMS already provides much of this information on its “Nursing Home Compare” Web site. What’s new is the star system, which is designed to make comparing the homes easier. In Virginia alone, there are 281 nursing homes with the Medicare and Medicaid certification, so the new system should be helpful.

Nursing Home Compare

Nursing Home Compare lists data from past health and fire inspections, staff-to-patient ratios, percentage of decline or improvement in patients, and much more. Information is updated every three months.

There is also a Nursing Home Checklist that viewers can download. It covers what to look for and questions to ask when visiting a home – and be sure to visit any how you are considering. Reading about a nursing home on a Web site in a brochure is only a first step in choosing the right one.

Add Your Ideas

Federal officials will be accepting comments from the public about the new system through July 2008. Interested consumers can download a sample page of the Five-Star Rating now from the CMS Web site and email comments about the system to bettercare@cms.hhs.gov