NEWBERRY — The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Service (CMS) is responsible for ensuring that nursing homes participating in the Medicare and Medicaid programs meet federal quality standards.

To help ensure this, CMS sets federal quality standards that focus on the delivery of care, resident outcomes, and facility conditions.

To determine whether nursing homes meet federal standards, CMS contracts with state survey agencies to conduct on-site nursing home inspections.

State surveyors are to conduct routine surveys, on average, every 12 months. During these routine surveys, teams of state surveyors evaluate nursing homes’ compliance with federal quality standards.

State surveyors may cite deficiencies in areas in which facilities fail to meet federal quality standards.

According to the most recent CMS data (Nursing Home Compendium 2010), the mean number of health deficiencies cited in South Carolina nursing homes is 5.8.

During the time period of Jan. 7 – 9, South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control, Division of Certification, conducted a routine survey at White Oak Manor Newberry.

During this three day time period, the survey team evaluated White Oak Manor Newberry’s compliance with federal quality standards and found them to be in substantial compliance in all areas.

White Oak Manor Newberry was found to be deficiency free.

According to the most recent CMS data (Nursing Home Compendium 2010), only 12.2 percent of nursing homes surveyed in South Carolina have achieved this outcome.