Colorado Nursing Homes: Violations, Fines and Worst Records

Per-home harm or immediate danger citations put Colorado eighth, using all 50 states and the District of Columbia as the comparison group. Three inspection cycles brought 489 citations at that serious level for Colorado's 210 nursing homes, per federal inspection files maintained by CMS, the agency overseeing Medicare. Across the country, facilities average 1.54 citations per home for harm or danger, a level Colorado far exceeds. In 63 homes statewide, inspectors issued at least one immediate danger citation involving a problem where serious injury or death was a risk. At the harm level, supervision and accident hazards were cited 161 times by Colorado inspectors, topping every other rule statewide.

For daily nurse staffing, Colorado places 41st out of the 50 states and the District of Columbia. The daily average in Colorado homes is 3.72 nurse hours for each resident; the national comparison is 3.86 hours. Of the 206 Colorado facilities that reported, 118 recorded nursing hours below what CMS expects given their residents' needs. The share of Colorado nursing staff who left within a year, measured as turnover, reached 47.1%. The national average for all reporting homes is 45.8%, and the state turnover rate sits slightly above it.

Through Find and Compare Facilities, families can read state inspection histories; Colorado's Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE) runs that search tool through its Health Facilities and Emergency Medical Services Division. This Colorado database includes nursing home inspection results for the last three years, regulation text, self-reported occurrences, and each facility's correction plan. Federal inspection reports, called the Form CMS-2567 statement of deficiencies, also exist for every Colorado home. Those Colorado reports are posted on each home's page within Medicare's Care Compare, a search tool once known as Nursing Home Compare.

When care seems unsafe at a state facility, families can file an online complaint through the CDPHE Health Facilities Division (or call 303-692-2442). Hosted by the Colorado Department of Human Services, the Colorado State Long-Term Care Ombudsman Program is a resident advocate office that residents and families can also reach at 303-862-3524. Where abuse or neglect involving a vulnerable resident is suspected, Colorado Adult Protective Services can also receive the report.