The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) recently released a new five-star rating system to rank every nursing facility in the country. Two White County Indiana nursing homes came in at opposite ends under the new system. Monticello Assisted Living and Healthcare was given a one-star rating (the worst under the new system) while Whispering Pines received the second to highest rating, four-stars. The ratings were released in December and updated January 15th.

Nearly 28 percent of Indiana’s nursing facilities were given one star, the lowest rating. By far, the most troubling area for these facilities was the staffing review. The new rating system uses the national database called the Minimum Data Set (MDS) Repository, which is information collected at intervals on every nursing home resident, and government surveys gathered on each facility. In Indiana, the government surveys are conducted by the Indiana State Department of Health (ISDH). The state summarizes their surveys into report cards on each facility.

Whispering Pines received a score of 184 while Monticello Assisted Living and Healthcare scored 164 under the comprehensive totals. These numbers both compare relatively well compared to the Indiana state average of 193 (the lower the score the better).

The CMS quality-rating system looks at three primary areas: health inspections, staffing and quality measures. Whispering Pines scored four stars in staffing while Monticello Assisted Living and Healthcare scored one star.