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Iron Mountain VA Nursing Care Gets High Grades

Oscar G. Johnson VA Medical Center

A report finds the Oscar G. Johnson VA Medical Center in Iron Mountain revealed that its nursing home received 5-stars as part of its annual performance rating.

The Iron Mountain-based VAMC’s announcement came after VA extended its unprecedented 18-month record of transparency disclosures by making public for the first time its annual nursing home ratings for every facility in the country.

Oscar G. Johnson VA Medical Center spokesperson Brad Nelson says their facility was highly rated in the report... 

"....with the release of this, it does show that the Iron Mountain nursing home, or what we call our Community Living Center, is a five-star rated facility....we are ranked tenth in the nation among the 130 VA nursing homes. So we're very pleased with that..."

Nelson says the data shows overall the VA’s nursing home system compares closely with private sector nursing homes, even though the department on average cares for sicker patients in its nursing homes than do private facilities...

"...we're starting to compare ourselves with non-VA nursing homes which is important to do. Veterans and their families can have choices, whether they want to use VA care or if they want to either private or Medicaid nursing homes as well. I think we compare pretty favorably..."

Nelson says the overall star rating for VA’s nursing homes compared to the more than 15,000 private sector nursing homes rated by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services shows the VA has a significantly lower percentage (34.1 percent lower) of one-star, or lowest rated, facilities than the rest of the nation.

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