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BEDFORD, Massachusetts—Edith Nourse Rogers Memorial Veterans’ Hospital announces the award of an overall five-star rating for its Community Living Center, or CLC, as part of the Department

of Veterans Affairs CLC Compare. CLC Compare is a mechanism used to benchmark CLCs, as VA nursing homes are called, against private sector nursing homes using a star rating system. The

purpose of VA’s quality and staff measures is to show how well nursing homes throughout VA address the physical and clinical needs of their residents and nurses’ hours-per-resident each day.

Dr. Shilpa Rungta, VA Bedford Healthcare System Chief of Staff, attributes the exceptional rating to Veteran-focused teamwork. “It takes a village to achieve what we did in the midst of the

COVID-19 pandemic,” Rungta said, “and we did so by putting Veterans at the center of everything we do.” ENRM Veterans’ Hospital, part of VA Bedford Healthcare System, is one of the largest

CLCs in the nation. It has achieved four-star ratings three times in the past, but this is the first time achieving a five-star rating, which includes five stars in both the staffing and

quality measures. Geriatrics and Extended Care service line manager Kelley Saindon said VA Bedford has been implementing strategic initiatives for the past five years, striving to reach this

five-star goal. “This entire facility has been committed to becoming a center of excellence for geriatric care,” Saindon said. “We have a full complement of expert staff who are dedicated

to following the methodology for age-friendly health care, to include giving Veterans what matters most to them.” As part of the Age-Friendly Health Systems movement, VA Bedford was among

the first health systems in the country to implement age-friendly health care. “Our geriatric clinical staff has vast specialized skillsets,” Dr. Kamal Patel, Medical Director of Geriatrics

and Extended Care said. “Our staff meets or exceed our Veterans’ needs and is committed to delivering the best experience possible to them.” VA Bedford staff also shifted aspects of their

self-evaluation. “Whenever we make a decision in our CLC, we ask ourselves one question above all else: what does it mean for the Veterans we serve and their families?” Mary Anderson,

Associate Director of Patient Care and Nursing said. “Because they have earned and deserve our very best, and we will never settle for anything less.” Veterans or caregivers interested in

admission into the CLC at ENRM Veterans’ Hospital should discuss the need for long term care with their VA primary care provider. VA social workers are also excellent points of contact to

provide VA and community care options to families. VA Bedford HCS provides health care services at four locations serving Veterans in Middlesex and Essex counties. Facilities include ENRM

Veterans’ Hospital in Bedford, and three community-based outpatient clinics in Lynn, Haverhill, and Gloucester. To learn more about the services each location offers, visit the VA Bedford

health services page of our public website.