Between 2020 and 2040, Maryland’s population over 60 years old is anticipated to increase by 27 percent from 1.37 million to 1.79 million, according to the state’s plan on aging.
And while the majority of older adults nationally (93.5 percent) do not live in nursing homes or assisted living facilities, according to one statistic on the website of the National Institutes of Health, a not unimportant number of individuals do live in such facilities.
Federal tool offers searchable rankings of Maryland nursing homes
But how well are these facilities serving the older residents who reside there? A federal tool can help you judge that, with ratings from 1-5 stars.
A tool to locate the nursing homes in your area with ratings based on staffing, health inspections, and quality measures can be found here .
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A snapshot of Maryland's nursing homes, by the numbers
Recently released information from the United States Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, a federal agency in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, shows 222 nursing home providers in the state of Maryland with a total of 27,534 certified beds.
Washington County has 10 nursing homes with a total of 989 certified beds. Half of those facilities are categorized as “for profit,” four are categorized as “non-profit,” and one -- the Western Maryland Hospital Center -- is categorized as a government facility run by the state.
Wicomico County has four nursing homes with a total of 613 certified beds. Half of those facilities are categorized as “for profit,” while the other half are categorized as government facilities with one run by the state and one run by the city of Salisbury/Wicomico County.
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(A similarity between all of the nursing homes in both counties: they are approved to receive federally-funded Medicare and Medicaid.)
Vice President Kamala Harris said during remarks in La Crosse, Wisconsin earlier this year that the estimate is that 75 percent of federally-funded nursing homes are understaffed.
Dwight A. Weingarten is an investigative reporter, covering the Maryland State House and state issues. He can be reached at dweingarten@gannett.com or on Twitter at @DwightWeingart2.
This article originally appeared on Salisbury Daily Times: How do MD nursing homes rate on vital issues? Find out with federal tool
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