Special Focus Facility (“SFF”) Program Identifies Worst Nursing Homes According to the Federal Government

Special Focus Facility (SFF) Program Keeps Nursing Homes Under Close Watch

State agencies like the Agency for Health Care Administration and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) inspect nursing homes to find out if they are proving the quality of care that is required in order to safeguard and increase residents’ health and safety. When nursing homes do not meet the health care or fire safety protocols, they are cited as deficiencies and are required to fix these issues. Special Focus Facilities are some of the worst rated nursing homes in America. At Senior Justice Law Firm, our nursing home attorneys routinely sue poorly rated facilities for neglect injuries, like bedsores, falls and broken bones.

How Does the Federal Agency Compile the Lowest Rated Nursing Home List?

CMS analyzes a nursing home’s performance over a 3 year period and looks for citations and deficiencies, based on government agency inspections and resident family complaints.

It is not unusual for most nursing homes to have some deficiencies, however the “Special Focus Facility Program” identifies facilities that are at the very bottom of the barrel as per CMS. These are facilities that are consistently rated as subpar that have more problems than most nursing homes. The problems cited in these facilities are usually more serious problems and usually follow a pattern of deficiencies.

The inspection data is analyzed over a course of three years. CMS utilizes a point system to score these lackluster facilities.  The more deficiencies that are cited, and the more cited at higher levels of scope and severity, the more points are assigned. Nursing homes with the most points in a state then become part of the SFF program, and are known as a Special Focus Facility.

Once a state selects a facility as an SFF, there are ways for these facilities to get off the “naughty list” like improving and fixing the deficiency. A poorly rated nursing home can graduate from the SFF program, or can be terminated from the Medicare and/or Medicaid program. This literally means the nursing home is so bad they cannot get federal taxpayer dollars through Medicare or Medicaid.

What Kind of Bad Nursing Home Behavior Leads to Deficiencies and High Score Injuries?

Often times, the higher scored violations and deficiencies can lead to serious injuries like bed sores, infections, and Falls.

If you are currently a resident or have a loved one in one of these SFF facilities, know that the nursing home is under close watch and most of the nursing homes in the program improve their quality of care with 1-2 years. 10% of the SFF nursing homes actually get terminated from Medicare and Medicaid.

Florida Facilities in the SFF Program

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• Facilities newly added to the SFF program
  • Oak Haven Rehab and Nursing Center in Auburndale, Florida is new to the SFF program, but has still been deficient for the past 7 months. The AHCA reports can be found here.
• Facilities That Have Shown Improvement
  • Winter Park Care & Rehabilitation Center in Winter Park, Florida has shown some improvement but have been in the SFF program for 10 months. Their most recent AHCA reports can be found here.
• Facilities That Have Recently Graduated from the SFF Program
  • Melbourne Terrace Rehabilitation Center in Melbourne, Florida recently graduated from the SFF program after being in the program for 8 months. Their AHCA reports can be found here.
• The following facilities are on the SFF candidate list which means These are nursing homes that qualify to be selected as an SFF. The number of nursing homes on the candidate list is based on five candidates for each SFF slot, with a minimum candidate pool of five nursing homes and a maximum of 30 per State.
  • ARCH PLAZA NURSING & REHABILITATION CENTER 12505 NE 16TH AVE NORTH MIAMI FL 33161
  • BAY POINTE NURSING PAVILION 4201 31ST ST S SAINT PETERSBURG FL
  • CONSULATE HEALTH CARE OF TALLAHASSEE 1650 PHILLIPS RD TALLAHASSEE FL
  • CRESTWOOD NURSING CENTER 501 S PALM AVE PALATKA FL
  • DIAMOND RIDGE HEALTH AND REHABILITATION CENTER 2730 W MARC KNIGHTON CT LECANTO FL
  • EGRET COVE CENTER 550 62ND ST S SAINT PETERSBURG FL
  • HUNTINGTON PLACE 1775 HUNTINGTON LANE ROCKLEDGE FL 32955
  • KEYSTONE REHABILITATION AND HEALTH CENTER 1120 W DONEGAN AVE KISSIMMEE FL
  • LAKELAND NURSING & REHABILITATION 1919 LAKELAND HILLS BLVD LAKELAND FL
  • OAKHURST CENTER 1501 SE 24TH RD OCALA FL 34471
  • ROCKLEDGE HEALTH AND REHABILITATION CENTER 587 BARTON BLVD ROCKLEDGE FL
  • SARASOTA POINT REHABILITATION CENTER 2600 COURTLAND STREET SARASOTA FL
  • ST AUGUSTINE HEALTH AND REHABILITATION CENTER 51 SUNRISE BLVD SAINT AUGUSTINE FL
  • UNIVERSITY EAST REHABILITATION CENTER 991 E NEW YORK AVE DELAND FL
  • UNIVERSITY HILLS HEALTH AND REHABILITATION 10040 HILLVIEW ROAD PENSACOLA FL

 New York Facilities in the SFF Program

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• Facilities That Have Shown Improvement
  • New Roc Nursing and Rehabilitation Center in Rochester NY, Saratoga Center For Rehab & Skilled Nursing Care in Ballston Spa NY and Utica Rehabilitation & Nursing Center 2535 in Utica NY have shown slight improvement. However, these facilities have been in the SFF program for 11-13 months.
• The following facilities are on the SFF candidate list:
  • BETHLEHEM COMMONS CARE CENTER 125 ROCKEFELLER ROAD DELMAR NY
  • BISHOP REHABILITATION AND NURSING CENTER 918 JAMES STREET SYRACUSE NY
  • BUFFALO COMMUNITY HEALTHCARE CENTER 1205 DELAWARE AVENUE BUFFALO NY
  • CAYUGA NURSING AND REHABILITATION CENTER 1229 TRUMANSBURG ROAD ITHACA NY
  • CREEKVIEW NURSING AND REHAB CENTER 525 BEAHAN ROAD ROCHESTER NY
  • IROQUOIS NURSING HOME INC 4600 SOUTHWOOD HEIGHTS DRIVE JAMESVILLE NY
  • KATHERINE LUTHER RESIDENTIAL HLTH CARE & REHAB 110 UTICA ROAD CLINTON NY
  • ONONDAGA CENTER FOR REHABILITATION AND NURSING 217 EAST AVENUE MINOA
  • ROBINSON TERRACE 28652 STATE HIGHWAY 23 STAMFORD NY
  • SODUS REHABILITATION & NURSING CENTER 6884 MAPLE AVE SODUS NY
  • THE GRAND REHABILITATION AND NURSING AT MOHAWK 99 SIXTH AVENUE ILION NY
  • THE KNOLLS 55 GRASSLAND ROAD VALHALLA NY
  • THE PINES HEALTHCARE & REHAB CENTERS OLEAN CAMPUS 2245 WEST STATE STREET OLEAN NY
  • TOWNHOUSE CENTER FOR REHABILITATION & NURSING 755 HEMPSTEAD TURNPIKE UNIONDALE NY
  • WESLEY GARDENS CORPORATION 3 UPTON PARK ROCHESTER NY

Pennsylvania Facilities in the SFF Program

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• Facilities newly added to the SFF program
  • Willow Terrace in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania is new to the SFF program, but has been in the SFF program for 2 months. The AHCA report for this facility can be found here.
• Facilities that have not improved
  • Gardens at West Shore in Camp Hill PA as well as Twin Lakes Rehabilitation And Healthcare located in Greensburg PA have not improved in 22 and 18 months respectively. This is not a good sign and why this program was established.  See the AHCA reports here. Hopefully these two Pennsylvania facilities can get on the right track.
• Facilities that Have Shown Improvement
  • Corner View Nursing and Rehabilitation Center located in Pittsburgh Pennsylvania has shown signs of improvement even though they have been in the SFF for 6 months.
• Facilities That Have Recently Graduated from the SFF Program
  • The Grove at North Huntingdon located in North Huntingdon Pennsylvania recently graduated from the program after 11 months.

Maryland Facilities in the SFF Program

• Facilities That Have Not Improved
  • Oxford Rehabilitation and healthcare in Haverhill Maryland is included in the list of facilities that have not improved. They have been under watch of the program for 3 months
• Facilities That Have Shown Improvement
  • Sweet Brook of Williamstown Rehabilitation in Williamstown Maryland have shown signs of improvement after being in the SFF program for 13 months.
• Facilities That Have Recently Graduated from the SFF Program
  • Fortunately, Worcester Health Center has recently graduated from the SFF program after 17 months under watch.
• The following facilities are on the SFF candidate list:
  • ATTLEBORO HEALTHCARE 27 GEORGE STREET ATTLEBORO MA 02703 508-226-1650 1
  • CARVALHO GROVE HEALTH AND REHABILITATION CENTER 273 OAK GROVE AVENUE FALL RIVER
  • CRANEVILLE PLACE REHABILITATION & SKILLED CARE CT 265 MAIN STREET DALTON
  • GARDEN PLACE HEALTHCARE 193-195 PLEASANT STREET ATTLEBORO
  • MARLBOROUGH HILLS REHABILITATION & HLTH CARE CTR 121 NORTHBORO ROAD MARLBOROUGH
  • NORTHWOOD REHABILITATION & HEALTHCARE CENTER 1010 VARNUM AVENUE LOWELL
  • NORWOOD HEALTHCARE 460 WASHINGTON STREET NORWOOD
  • PLYMOUTH REHABILITATION & HEALTH CARE CENTER 123 SOUTH STREET PLYMOUTH
  • WAREHAM HEALTHCARE 50 INDIAN NECK ROAD WAREHAM
  • WORCESTER REHABILITATION & HEALTH CARE CENTER 119 PROVIDENCE STREET WORCESTER

SFF Program Gives Residents and Their Families Reassurance

Thankfully there are national programs in place like the SFF program that gives families of loved ones in these facilities hope that adequate care will be provided at these facilities.  It’s important that nursing homes and rehab centers are held accountable and put on “timeout” if they are not proving the quality of care that is required in order to safeguard and increase residents’ health and safety.

If your loved one was a resident/patient at any of the above facilities and they were abused or received negligent care, call Senior Justice Law Firm today, toll free, at 888-375-9998, or live chat with our office now.