Garfield's Five-Star Quality Measures

In the spirit of providing excellent and effective services, we are proud to spotlight our Garfield Neurobehavioral Center in Oakland, CA.

Recently, Garfield achieved a five-star quality rating for their long-stay resident services from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Service’s Nursing Home Compare quarterly evaluation.

Five stars is the most up-to-date reflection of how a nursing home is performing. These quality measures are set-up to capture and report clinical outcomes every quarter, which means programs not only have to meet specific quality benchmarks, but they must sustain them in order to keep their five-star rating.

“Craig and his team at Garfield achieved their five-star rating by transforming their morning huddle with the staff,” said David Farrell, Vice President of Subacute Operations at Telecare. “With the consistent exchange of information during these meetings, staff are aware of issues and are able to notice subtle changes in their clients, and can act on them before they turn into something serious.”

The meetings occur every morning with a rundown of client concerns and progress. The check-ins ensure that staff are held accountable for their own work, as well as the performance of their peers.

“The community meetings in the morning have created a team atmosphere for the staff,” said Tara Leiker, Interim Director of Rehabilitation at Garfield. “Employees are able to be more vocal in the morning meetings, which has helped change the culture to a more collaborative one.”

“The morning meetings have also gotten staff more aware of what is happening and the goings on of the program outside of their own workload,” said Norman Biala, Minimum Data Set (MDS) Coordinator. “The meetings are a big part of making sure we reach our goals—in order to maintain five stars, we need all staff to be involved.”

Along with open communication among staff, the team at Garfield has increased on-the-floor involvement from the managers.

“Having the management team taking on more rounds and being on the floor has shown the staff that the managers are really invested in the program,” Tara said. “Changing the management system away from a top-down approach has helped create positive morale among the staff and more accountability among the management team.”

In addition to improving communication among staff and management, residents are given an avenue to participate in their care through monthly resident counsels, where they can voice their concerns and know they are being heard.

The operations overhaul has proved to be beneficial. Garfield’s quality measurements in the last quarter show that pressure ulcers among residents have minimized, restraints have not been used, and falls have decreased.

Way to go, Garfield!