Washington County Nursing Home

Washington County Nursing Home is an 88-bed long-term care facility and county-operated governmental institution at 14600 St. Stephens Avenue in Chatom, Alabama, in Washington County. It’s administered by Teresa Grimes and functions as an integral part of Washington County Hospital, which has served the community since 1953. It accepts Medicare and Medicaid, and the current resident census (January 2026) shows 80 residents, with Medicaid covering 83.8 percent and private pay or other sources covering the rest.

The facility scored an overall 5-star rating by CMS, with every rating dimension above the Alabama average, the only facility in this review batch to achieve that across all four components. The overall score is 71.8 percent above the Alabama average, health inspection performance is 74.8 percent above average, staffing is 38.9 percent above average, and quality measures are 69.5 percent above average. The inspection record is extraordinary. Across three surveys over eight years: February 2018, February 2019, and June 2021, the facility accumulated just one total citation, placing it first out of 121 Alabama SNFs on both total citations and per-inspection citation rate. That single citation was a moderate Abuse/Neglect finding from the February 2018 survey, corrected promptly. No critical or serious citations have been issued, with no fines or penalties in the past three years. Quality measure performance for long-stay residents is similarly strong across most dimensions. Hospitalizations run at 0.94 per 1,000 resident days, 53 percent below the Alabama average of 2.00, indicating that chronic conditions are being managed proactively. ADL decline (9.4 percent vs Alabama average 13.9 percent) and walking ability decline (9.6 percent vs 16.1 percent) are both substantially better than state benchmarks, as are pressure ulcer (2.7 percent vs 5.9 percent) and UTI rates (2.3 percent vs 2.7 percent). Both pneumococcal and influenza vaccination rates reach 100 percent for long-stay residents. The composite high-risk clinical events score of 7.1 is 20 percent better than the Alabama average. Three areas warrant monitoring: weight loss at 9.6 percent (78 percent above Alabama average 5.4 percent), bowel/bladder incontinence at 21.7 percent (59 percent above average 13.6 percent), and falls with major injury at 4.4 percent (29 percent above average 3.4 percent). Given these figures, families of long-stay residents should ask specifically about fall prevention protocols and nutritional monitoring. Staffing is above average in total nursing hours, 4 hours 52 minutes per resident per day, 11 percent above the Alabama average, ranking 25th of 121 statewide. LPN hours stand out at 57 minutes per day, 21 percent above the state average. Weekend total nursing of 3 hours 34 minutes is 8 percent above average. One gap needs attention: weekend RN coverage at 8 minutes per day is 64 percent below the Alabama average of 22 minutes, the lowest weekend RN figure in this batch. Q2 2025 payroll data shows 103 total staff: 99 employees, 4 contractors (1.7 percent of hours) with 8.4 hours average shift. The 1.29:1 staff-to-resident ratio is below the Alabama average headcount ratio, though the nursing hours benchmarks remain above average, reflecting longer average shifts.

The campus’ specialty clinic access is a meaningful differentiator for a rural county-operated facility. On-site or affiliated services include cardiology, orthopaedics, pulmonary, radiology, vascular associates, a lab, a swing bed program, and the WCHNH Heritage Adult Day Haven, extending the facility’s services to day care for community members. Millry Family Care provides primary care access within the network.

Washington County Nursing Home is an exceptional option for Washington County and surrounding rural Alabama communities seeking a county-governed, 5-star rated facility. Its inspection record stands among the cleanest in the state, with quality results reflecting resident health outcomes instead of mere regulatory compliance. The RN weekend gap and the weight loss and incontinence metrics are the only material concerns in an otherwise highly favorable profile, though families of long-stay residents must ask about fall prevention protocols and nutritional monitoring.

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