Buffalo Nursing Homes

Buffalo nursing homes provide residence for seniors and patients that need advanced rehabilitation or medical services. Nursing facility caregivers, including physicians, nurses, social workers and therapists, administer periodic to 24/7 care to patients that are incapable of living independently.

Nursing homes, also called skilled nursing facilities, are broken down between short-term and long-term care. Some Buffalo skilled nursing facilities deliver both types of care. Short-term care focuses on helping patients recover from acute medical events, the most common being strokes, heart attacks, aneurisms and falls. Caregivers help with physical, occupational, speech and respiratory therapy to help patients recuperate to their former levels of strength and function. The goal of short-term care is for patients to improve enough to either return home or seek less inclusive levels of care such as assisted living or in home care. Long-term care concentrates on medical treatment and health maintenance for severely impaired patients. They may have dementia, Alzheimer’s, multiple sclerosis, liver or heart problems or just general physical decline. For their medical needs, physicians and nurses are on hand to perform medical procedures like blood work, intravenous fluids and medicine dosage. For long-term patients’ custodial and social needs, non-medical staff help with activities of daily living and give patients a level of companionship.

Nearly 75 percent of short-term care stays are the result of an acute medical event requiring a hospitalization. During the hospital stay, the patient’s doctor will evaluate if further treatment in a nursing home is needed. The best quality hospital care will allow patients the access to knowledgeable physicians that can help recommend reputable SNFs and also quality medical treatment that can help during the first part of recovery. In Buffalo the highest quality hospitals, based on patients’ hospital experiences, are Sister of Charity Hospital and Kaleida Health.

Buffalo’s nursing care costs are much higher than the national average but still fall well under the New York median. Semi-private and private SNF rooms cost $8,576 and $9,143 per month, respectively. Other seniors care costs are also expensive. Homemaker services, home health aide and adult day health care cost $4,195, $4,290 and $975 per month, respectively. Assisted living bedrooms bear a monthly cost of $3,585.

Even though 70 percent of those age 65 and above will need long-term care at some point in time, for many seniors and their families, the need for nursing care sneaks up on them. The cost of nursing care is a barrier that some are often unprepared for. Insurance plans, even Medicare, do not provide full coverage. Medicare will only cover the first 100 days of a nursing care stay during one benefit period. Sometimes Medicaid will not fully cover nursing care and is not accepted at all facilities. Even long-term care insurance has certain restrictions. Our site aims at giving seniors and their loved ones information on the complicated topic of nursing care. We believe all patients should have access to quality, compassionate and attentive care that meets their financial, emotional and medical needs.