Feds give 11 nursing homes perfect scores

Nearly one of every four nursing homes in the Sarasota-Bradenton region received five out of five stars from the federal Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services in annual reports.

The nursing homes, including facilities in North Port, in south Sarasota County, were listed in a recent U.S. News & World Report article that ranked nursing homes nationwide. The publication tracked the three categories federal regulators monitor: health inspections, nurse staffing and quality measures. Nursing homes could earn a rank of one through five in each category, in addition to an overall ranking of one through five.

In the Sarasota-Bradenton region 11 nursing homes earned five stars in the overall rankings, out of 43 total facilities. Another 14 facilities received four out of five stars.

One of the five-star locations, Life Care Center of Sarasota, exceeded federal standards in several areas, including food preparation, adequacy of infection control and quality of care, according to a nursing home release. The facility, on Tuttle Avenue, also surpassed all levels of the health inspection and exceeded state and national averages for the time residents get with nurses.

“It is an honor to be listed among the best nursing homes in the nation,” Life Care Center Senior Executive Director Nina Willingham says in the release. “We have a wonderful group of dedicated caregivers and service providers, whose priority is to give their best.”

Life Care Center of Sarasota is one of 21 skilled nursing and rehabilitation facilities in Florida operated or managed by Life Care Centers of America. The list of other Sarasota-Bradenton nursing home facilities with five out of five stars includes:

• Harborchase of Venice;
• Heartland Health Care Center - North Sarasota;
• Heartland Health Care & Rehabilitation Center;
• Inn at Sarasota Bay Club;
• Nursing Center at Freedom Village;
• Quality Health of North Port;
• Sunnyside Nursing Home;
• Village on the Isle;
• Westminster Communities of Bradenton;
• Westminster Towers and Shoes of Bradenton.