YOUNTVILLE, Calif. – The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services has given the 133-year-old flagship Yountville Veterans Home a “five-star” rating – the highest possible quality rating.

“This is great news for us because this five-star rating is a first for the Yountville Home,” said Ursula Stuter, acting administrator of the facility. “This star rating is a reflection of the quality, compassion, and dedication of the Yountville team. Despite having a large facility with four different levels of care, an aging infrastructure, and nearly 900 residents, our team has proven again and again that it can provide some of the best care in the nation.”

In 2008, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services created the Quality Rating System, from one to five stars, to help consumers and their families compare nursing homes.

The Yountville Veterans Home was rated at two stars in 2015 and increased to three stars last year.

This jump to five stars puts the home in the top 10 percent in quality as judged against nursing homes statewide.

This announcement brings all five of the CMS-rated homes operated by the California Department of Veterans Affairs (CalVet) to five stars.

“This is a very proud moment for our entire agency,” said CalVet Secretary, Dr. Vito Imbasciani. “A five-star rating at Yountville is the culmination of a concerted effort to improve services across all of CalVet’s programs, and today it feels like we have reached success. Tomorrow we turn to maintenance and improvement in other areas, but today we can rest – and celebrate.”

“Achieving five stars in all five eligible Veterans Homes is a tremendous accomplishment,” said Coby Petersen, deputy secretary over CalVet’s system of eight veterans homes.

“Two years ago, we had only two-star facilities, and our veterans deserved better,” said Petersen. “Staff in every home and at every level have worked hard to improve policies and procedures, strengthen training programs, and develop robust internal audits to ensure that we were providing the best care possible. The results today speak for themselves – this was a team effort and I couldn’t be prouder. As a veteran, this is the quality I would expect for myself or a loved one.”

The annual and periodic surveys conducted by the Department of Public Health for this determination evaluate compliance with Medicare health and safety standards for acute and continuing care providers, including nursing homes, with respect to health inspections and data on nursing and support staffing, quality measures, and health care inspections. These categories are then combined into an overall quality rating of one to five stars.

Founded in 1884, the Veterans Home of California-Yountville is the largest Veterans Home in the U.S., offering skilled nursing, long-term care, and residential accommodations with a wealth of recreational, social, and therapeutic activities for independent living.

Nearly 900 aged or disabled men and women of World War II, Korean War, Vietnam War, Desert Storm and Operation Enduring Freedom/Operation Iraqi Freedom currently live at the Veterans Home.

See all of the homes and learn more about CalVet at www.calvet.ca.gov.