Aspirus™ Ontonagon Hospital

Federal government releases nursing home rating information

ONTONAGON, Mich. – The federal government recently released its first set of nursing home quality ratings, and Aspirus Long Term Care at Aspirus Ontonagon Hospital was among a select number of Michigan facilities to receive the highest rating.

The five-star rating system was developed by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), and is based on data related to state health inspection surveys, quality measures, and the latest report on staffing.

Aspirus Ontonagon Hospital’s 46-bed nursing facility was among only 13 percent of Michigan’s 417 nursing homes included in the ratings to receive a five-star rating.

“We’ve always thought of our long-term care as being among the best in the state, and the five-star rating from CMS verifies that,” said Mike Gutsch, CEO of Aspirus Ontonagon Hospital. “The rating also speaks volumes about our highly-skilled staff, and the level of care they provide all our residents and patients every day.”  

Nursing home ratings are available on Medicare’s Web site at www.medicare.gov/NHCompare, and ratings were not given if facilities don’t accept patients covered by Medicaid. CMS rated Michigan’s facilities as follows:

• Five stars – 53 facilities, or about 13 percent.
• Four stars – 102 facilities, or about 24 percent.
• Three stars – 99 facilities, or about 24 percent.
• Two stars – 76 facilities, or about 18 percent.
• One star – 87 facilities, or about 21 percent.

Nationally, 12 percent of the country’s 16,000 nursing homes received five-star ratings, and 22 percent received one-star ratings.

For more information about long-term care at Aspirus Ontonagon Hospital, please call 906.884.8300. Someone is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Aspirus Ontonagon Hospital provides 24-hour emergency care, cardiac care, physical therapy, surgery, laboratory, and imaging services. The campus is also home to a Family Practice Clinic and a 46-bed skilled nursing facility.