50 FL Nursing Homes Make 2023 U.S. News ‘Best’ List

FLORIDA — 50 Florida nursing homes received a 5 — the highest possible rating — this year in U.S. News & World Report’s annual rating.

The rankings service rated more than 15,000 nursing homes in the country based on patient and resident outcomes, such as infection rates; staffing levels; reliance on antipsychotic drugs; health inspection results, and other quality indicators.

Here are the nursing homes that received an overall rating of five for 2024 in Florida:

• Ocean View Nursing & Rehabilitation Center, New Smyrna Beach
• Tallahassee Memorial Hospital Extended Care, Tallahassee
• Jackson Memorial Perdue Medical Center, Cutler Bay
• The Chateau at Moorings Park, Naples
• Moultrie Creek Nursing and Rehabilitation Center, St. Augustine
• Village on the Green, Longwood
• Sarasota Memorial Nursing and Rehabilitation Center, Sarasota
• Surrey Place Healthcare and Rehabilitation, Bradenton
• Vicar’s Landing Nursing Home, Ponte Vedra Beach
• Bartram Crossing, Jacksonville
• HealthPark Care Center, Fort Myers
• The Gardens at Depugh, Winter Park
• Edgewater at Waterman Village, Mount Dora
• The Joseph L. Morse Health Center, West Palm Beach
• Plymouth Harbor - Smith Care Center, Sarasota
• Edward J. Healey Rehabilitation and Nursing Center, Riviera Beach
• Premier Place at The Glenview, Naples
• Westminster Woods on Julington Creek, Jacksonville
• Florida Hospital North Pinellas, Tarpon Springs
• Solaris Healthcare Daytona, Daytona Beach
• Shands Jacksonville Medical Center, Jacksonville
• Larsen Health Center, Fort Myers
• Baldomero Lopez Memorial Veterans Nursing Home, Land O’Lakes
• The Lodge at Cypress Cove, Fort Myers
• Westminster Point Pleasant, Bradenton
• Westminster St. Augustine, St. Augustine
• Sunnyside Nursing Home, Sarasota
• Lakeside Neurologic, Wauchula
• Life Care Center of Palm Bay, Palm Bay
• Glenridge on Palmer Ranch, Sarasota
• Oak Hammock at the University of Florida, Gainesville
• The Nursing Center at La Posada, Palm Beach Gardens
• Villa Maria West Skilled Nursing Facility, Hialeah Gardens
• Freedom Pointe at the Villages Rehabilitation and Skilled Nursing, The Villages
• Astoria Health and Rehabilitation Center, Winter Haven
• Benderson Family Skilled Nursing and Rehabilitation Center, Sarasota
• Club Health and Rehabilitation Center at The Villa, The Villages
• The Villages Rehabilitation and Nursing Center, Lady Lake
• Skytop View Rehabilitation Center, Clermont
• Kindred Hospital South Florida Hollywood, Hollywood
• Health Center at Sinai Residences, Boca Raton
• Lee Memorial Hospital Skilled Nursing Unit, Fort Myers
• Olive Branch Health and Rehabilitation Center, Pensacola
• Westminster Baldwin Park, Orlando
• Gulf Coast Medical Center Skilled Nursing, Fort Myers
• AdventHealth - Dade City
• AdventHealth Care Center - Celebration
• Lakes of Clermont Health and Rehabilitation Center, Clermont
• De Luna Health and Rehabilitation Center, Pensacola
• Chatham Glen Healthcare and Rehabilitation Center, The Villages

The authors found that nearly one in five of the evaluated nursing homes were recognized as “Best Nursing Homes” in “Short-Term Rehabilitation,” “Long-Term Care,” or both. More than 1,800 cities and towns had at least one “Best Nursing Home.”

In Florida, 120 nursing homes were recognized as “high performing” for short stays, and 84 received the recognition for long stays.

High-Performing for Short Stays

• Ocean View Nursing & Rehabilitation Center, New Smyrna Beach
• Moultrie Creek Nursing and Rehabilitation Center, St. Augustine
• Bartram Crossing, Jacksonville
• Plymouth Harbor - Smith Care Center, Sarasota
• The Joseph L. Morse Health Center, West Palm Beach
• AdventHealth - Dade City

Find the full list of nursing homes recognized for short stays at the U.S. News & World Report website.

High-Performing for Long Stays

• Baldomero Lopez Memorial Veterans Nursing Home, Land O’Lakes
• Westminster Point Pleasant, Bradenton
• Oak Hammock at the University of Florida, Gainesville
• Health Center at Sinai Residences, Boca Raton
• Life Care Center of Palm Bay, Palm Bay
• Glenridge on Palmer Ranch, Sarasota

Find the full list of nursing homes recognized for long stays at the U.S. News & World Report website.

More than 1.4 million people live in Medicare- and Medicaid-certified nursing homes across the nation, Dr. Michael Tehrani, a geriatric physician and founder and CEO of MedWell Medical in Long Beach, California, told U.S. News last month. Most people who use long-term care service are at least 65 years old, with 83 percent of nursing home residents being in that older age bracket. Residents typically have a chronic condition — such as arthritis, heart disease, diabetes or Alzheimer’s disease — that requires ongoing care.

The U.S. News authors said the latest data showed that fewer than 5 percent of evaluated nursing homes met both existing staffing requirements and newly proposed staffing requirements by the Biden administration.

More than 2,500 cities and towns have at least one nursing home rated as “below average.” Furthermore, over 400 nursing homes consistently failed to have a registered nurse available for at least eight hours a day, seven days a week — as required by federal regulators — and only 701 met both existing requirements and more stringent staffing requirements recently proposed by the Biden administration, the report found.

Nursing homes that met both staffing standards are 54 times more likely to be rated a “Best Nursing Home” by U.S. News than those that consistently failed to meet the current standard, the U.S. News said in a news release. Additionally, 445 nursing homes that received 4 or 5 stars from the U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services were rated 1 or 2 out of 5 by U.S. News.

Methodology

U.S. News evaluated nursing homes using various quality measures from CMS. This includes data on resident care, safety, outcomes and other aspects of quality. Short- and long-term ratings include data on nurse staffing, use of antipsychotic drugs and success in preventing emergency room and hospital visits.

The long-term care rating also included measures of whether a home changed ownership and how well they were staffed on weekends.

“U.S. News’ Best Nursing Homes ratings give patients, senior residents, their families and caregivers an objective assessment of quality, to help them choose the facility that best fits their individual needs,” Daniel Lara Agudelo, health data analyst at U.S. News, said in a statement. “Nursing homes that have earned the recognition of U.S. News have a track record of achieving better outcomes for patients and residents, and maximizing the amount of care they receive from nurses and other staff.”