News : Virginia Gay Nursing and Rehabilitation celebrates U.S. News Award

Mark Mossman presents the plaque

Mark with Jessica Henkle and Mike Riege

Thelma Bryant, Marge Smith, and Jeanette Blazicek enjoy the celebration

Bernard Freese holds the plaque and poses with Nursing and Rehab staff members

Many staff members from the VGH facility were on hand to recognize the accomplishment

Mark Mossman, Virginia Gay Hospital Board Chair, presented Jessica Henkle and Mike Riege with a plaque commemorating another U.S. News and World Report 5 Star ranking for Virginia Gay’s long term care unit. Jessica is Nurse Manager, RN, of Virginia Gay Nursing and Rehabilitation. Mike Riege is CEO of Virginia Gay Hospital.

Mossman, in a short talk prior to presenting the award, praised the staff for yet another award. “Millions of Americans have come to rely on U.S. News rankings for guidance on selecting colleges, and now U.S. News also ranks nursing facilities. The staff has every reason to be proud of the work they’ve done to earn this award, and we are certainly proud of their accomplishments. I say that not only as a board member, but as someone whose Mom and Dad both lived at Virginia Gay.”

After presentation of the award residents and many Virginia Gay staff members from a wide variety of departments enjoyed cake, coffee, and social time together. Residents passed around the plaque and posed for celebratory photos.

Both U.S. News and Medicare are looked to for unbiased ranking of long term care facilities. The U.S. News Health Inspection ranking is based on how well the facility met standards for health and safety. The areas included in this measure are food preparation and other nursing activities. The “Quality Measures” area of the ranking is based on scores for the number of patients receiving flu vaccinations and avoidance of common care-related problems. The “Overall Rating” includes a combination of measures from these areas and information about the staff’s professional preparation and staff scheduling.

Virginia Gay’s Nursing and Rehab facility consistently achieves outstanding quality measures from U.S. News, from the internal surveys of residents and their families conducted by the outside firm Pinnacle Healthcare Customer Surveys, and from rankings by Medicare. To see rankings click on the links for U.S. News rankings, or Medicare.gov.