Sea Breeze Rehab and Nursing Center Lawsuits

When a loved one suffers an infection, fall, or unexpected decline in a nursing home, families may review lawsuits and inspection records to see whether others have raised similar concerns.

Public records involving Sea Breeze Rehab and Nursing Center lawsuits include a resident’s estate alleging failures in care before her death and a separate premises liability case brought by a visitor. Government inspection records also document past concerns involving staffing, care planning, and infection control.

A lawsuit contains allegations that may be disputed, while an inspection citation reflects a regulatory finding. Neither establishes what happened to another resident, but both can provide useful information for families with questions about care.

Estate Alleged Infections Worsened Before a Resident’s Death

In July 2020, the Estate of Jerusha Johnson filed a lawsuit against Atlantic Care Acquisition, LLC, doing business as Sea Breeze Rehabilitation and Nursing Center.

Jerusha Johnson died on May 19, 2019. According to the complaint, she had physical limitations that impaired her ability to adequately provide for her own care and protection while residing at Sea Breeze.

The estate alleged that staff failed to develop an adequate care plan and properly monitor and supervise Johnson. According to the complaint, those failures resulted in the development and deterioration of a fecal infection and other infections.

The complaint alleged several specific failures, including failing to:

Recognize significant changes in Johnson’s condition,
Notify her family and physicians about changes,
Follow physician orders,
Properly document her care,
Adequately train and supervise staff,
Provide adequate staffing, and
Transfer Johnson to a hospital in a timely manner.

The estate alleged that these failures violated Johnson’s rights under Florida nursing home law and contributed to her injuries and death. These are allegations made in the complaint, not findings that Sea Breeze caused Johnson’s infections or death.

Have Inspectors Identified Staffing and Care Planning Problems?

Separate regulatory records provide additional context for families concerned about Sea Breeze nursing home neglect. In August 2019, several months after Johnson’s death, inspectors cited Sea Breeze for deficiencies involving insufficient nursing staff, resident assessments, care planning, and staff competencies.

These findings do not prove the allegations made in the Johnson lawsuit. They involved a later inspection and must be considered separately. However, some of the subjects identified by inspectors, including staffing and care planning, are also areas the Johnson estate raised in its complaint.

Staffing concerns surfaced again during a 2020 inspection. State inspectors found that Sea Breeze lacked sufficient nursing staff to meet residents’ needs. Local reporting on the inspection described residents telling investigators that staffing shortages had affected their ability to receive showers or baths.

The 2020 inspection occurred during a COVID-19 outbreak at the facility and also resulted in an infection-control-related citation involving required reporting to residents and their representatives.

For families investigating Sea Breeze Rehab and Nursing Center Vero Beach complaints, these records can help identify questions about staffing levels, supervision, infection precautions, and whether a resident’s care plan was followed.

What Do Current Sea Breeze Rehab and Nursing Center Ratings Show?

Families researching Sea Breeze Rehab and Nursing Center ratings may encounter different star ratings depending on the source.

Florida’s Nursing Home Guide currently gives Sea Breeze a four-star overall inspection rating for the rating period covering October 2023 through March 2026. The facility received five stars in several individual categories, including quality of care, pressure ulcers, nutrition and hydration, and decline.

CMS uses a different Five-Star Quality Rating System. Current CMS-derived data give Sea Breeze two stars overall and one star for staffing.

The different ratings are not necessarily contradictory because the state and federal systems measure and calculate performance differently. Families should look beyond a single overall number and consider the underlying inspection and staffing information.

Recent federal inspection data are also less severe than some of Sea Breeze’s older history. ProPublica’s presentation of CMS data reports no serious deficiencies, federal fines, or Medicare payment suspensions during the most recent three-year period.

Visitor Alleged She Was Injured on an Uneven Sidewalk

Another lawsuit against Sea Breeze involved property safety rather than nursing care.

In November 2021, Gail Clark sued Citadel Care Group, LLC, doing business as Sea Breeze Rehabilitation and Nursing Center. Clark alleged that she had visited Sea Breeze in August 2020 to see her father, who was a resident.

According to the complaint, Clark tripped and fell on a raised or uneven sidewalk. She alleged that Sea Breeze failed to adequately inspect, maintain, repair, or warn visitors about the dangerous condition. The complaint also alleged inadequate staffing and training related to sidewalk inspection and maintenance.

Clark sought damages for injuries she attributed to the fall. Unlike the Johnson case, this lawsuit did not allege that Sea Breeze provided negligent nursing care to a resident.

What Can Sea Breeze Rehab and Nursing Center Reviews Tell Families?

Online Sea Breeze Rehab and Nursing Center reviews can provide firsthand accounts from residents, visitors, and family members. However, reviews are subjective. They may lack important context, and they do not establish that a facility violated state or federal requirements.

Inspection reports and legal filings serve different purposes. Inspection reports document findings made by government regulators. Lawsuits document allegations made by plaintiffs and should not be treated as proof unless those allegations result in findings of liability.

Families can use all three to identify issues they may want to investigate further.

If your loved one developed an infection, pressure injury, unexplained bruising, repeated falls, or another serious condition, their own records are particularly important. Care plans, nursing notes, medication records, hospital records, incident reports, photographs, and communications with staff can help establish when a problem developed and how Sea Breeze responded.

Concerned About a Loved One’s Care at Sea Breeze?

A lawsuit or inspection report cannot determine whether your loved one experienced nursing home abuse or neglect. That requires looking at the resident’s condition, care needs, medical records, and what staff did or failed to do.

Senior Justice Law Firm focuses on nursing home abuse and neglect cases and represents residents and their families, never nursing homes. A Vero Beach nursing home abuse lawyer can investigate what happened, obtain relevant records, and help you understand whether the circumstances may support a claim.

Contact Senior Justice Law Firm for a free case evaluation.

Legal References Used to Inform This Page

To ensure the accuracy and clarity of this page, we referenced official legal and other resources during the content development process:

*Disclaimer: The above does not mean your loved one would be in harm at this facility. Each facility gets inspected often. Almost all facilities have deficiencies. Many face civil lawsuits. You should not make a facility placement decision based solely on the above information. Each case is different. Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome or indicate an expected outcome on your particular case. The above prior lawsuit information is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. The information is not provided in the course of an attorney-client relationship and is not intended to substitute for legal advice from an attorney. This individual case information above is publicly filed information gathered from the publicly filed complaint. This information and these cases are not the work of this law firm. The inspection results are provided from public government agency surveys. The state Department of Health conducts a survey of all nursing home facilities at least once every 15 months. The deficiencies listed on this page may have been corrected after the date of the inspection and date of publishing this material. Citations, ratings and deficiencies are current as of the date of this post and will change later on. The inspection findings published are not complete. You may find the most up to date information at medicare.gov. This material is not endorsed by the facility or by any governmental agency. Speak with an attorney immediately if you believe you have a viable case against a nursing home, assisted living facility or medical facility.