Florida Nursing Homes: Violations, Fines and Worst Records

With 694 nursing homes averaging 3.3 overall stars, Florida stands sixth among the 50 states and the District of Columbia; the national average is 3.0. In federal Medicare inspection records from CMS, 556 of these Florida facilities run for profit; 125 count as non-profit homes, while 13 are publicly operated. In the state, chain companies run 535 homes, and Aviata Health Group leads them with 50 homes. In Florida, 41.4% of nursing staff left within a year, against 45.8% nationally. Nurses in Florida give each resident 3.82 hours of care a day, compared with 3.86 hours across the nation.

Over the past three inspection cycles, inspectors in Florida issued 707 citations for violations of care quality. They added 697 for infection prevention and control rules and 672 for kitchen safety rules. Where citations involved resident harm or immediate danger, supervision and accident hazards were the most common in the state, numbering 160. CMS imposed the largest single federal fine in Florida, $319,770, in December 2024 on Venice's Sunset Lake Healthcare and Rehabilitation Center. The federal Special Focus Facility program, a watch list for homes that repeatedly fail serious inspections, includes three Florida homes. They are Aventura at the Bay, Groves Center, and Gulf Coast Village, and another 15 are candidates for it.

State records are available to families through the FloridaHealthFinder Nursing Home Guide, run by the Florida Agency for Health Care Administration. It covers final orders, deficiency reports, and inspection ratings for each of the state's 694 facilities. The federal search tool now called Medicare Care Compare, once Nursing Home Compare, also carries a profile for each Florida home. From that profile, readers can open the home's deficiency statement (Form CMS-2567), the official report used by inspectors to record findings from Florida complaint investigations and routine visits.

A state nursing home complaint can be filed by residents and relatives with the Florida Agency for Health Care Administration, on the web or by phone at 1-888-419-3456. Such complaint visits produce 18.2% of Florida citations. Everyday care disputes within a home can be brought to the Florida Long-Term Care Ombudsman Program at the Florida Department of Elder Affairs. The number is 1-888-831-0404. The Florida Abuse Hotline at 1-800-96-ABUSE (1-800-962-2873) also takes direct reports of suspected abuse, neglect, or exploitation involving a vulnerable adult in Florida.