By CRAIG FREILICH

Of the five nursing homes in St. Lawrence County, two, both in Massena, have the lowest government rating and one, in Ogdensburg, has the highest.

According to the latest data from medicare.gov, the St. Regis Nursing Home on Grove Street in Massena and the Highland Nursing Home on Highland Road in Massena, both for-profit homes, are rated at 1, the lowest in the government accounting, meaning “much below average.”

In Ogdensburg, St. Joseph’s Nursing Home, 950 Linden St., has the highest rating they confer, a 5, “much above average.”

RiverLedge Residence, a United Helpers nursing home at 8103 State Rt. 68 in Ogdensburg, has a rating of 2 out of 5, “below average.”

Maplewood Health Care and Rehabilitation Center, another United Helpers facility at 205 State Street Rd., Canton, has a rating of 4 out of 5, “above average.”

St. Joseph’s, RiverLedge and Maplewood are non-profit nursing homes.

The data were provided by the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services and updated as of March 18, according to their web pages. The nursing home ratings can be seen and compared at http://www.medicare.gov/NursingHomeCompare/search.html.

The ratings mean:

• 1 – much below average

• 2 – below average

• 3 – average

• 4 – above average

• 5 – well above average.

The overall ratings are dependent on subcategories: a nursing home’s health inspection results; nursing home's staffing hours for registered nurses (RNs), licensed practical nurses (LPNs), licensed vocational nurses (LVNs), and certified nursing assistants (CNAs); and quality measures, which are based on resident assessment data that show how well the nursing home cares for residents' needs.

The subcategory ratings for the five homes in St. Lawrence County ranked by Medicare.gov, also on a 1 to 5 scale, are:

• St. Regis Nursing Home, health inspection 2; staffing 3; quality measures, 1

• Highland Nursing Home, health inspection 1; staffing 4; quality measures, 1

• St. Joseph’s Home, health inspection 5; staffing 3; quality measures, 3

• RiverLedge, health inspection 2; staffing 3; quality measures, 2

• Maplewood, health inspection 3; staffing 4; quality measures, 2.

The web site explains that the health inspections rating derives from the three most recent comprehensive inspections, generally carried out yearly.

The staffing rating is based on two measures: how long in hours RNs are at work per resident day, and total staffing hours of all nurses and aides per resident day.

Quality measures are calculated from several factors derived from clinical data reported by the nursing home.

A Technical Users’ Guide on the quality rating system can be seen at http://www.cms.gov/Medicare/Provider-Enrollment-and-Certification/CertificationandComplianc/Downloads/usersguide.pdf