In Lee, Florida, 12 of the 18 nursing homes have earned the best ratings for abuse and use of restraints according to the Florida’s Agency for Health Care Administration. Ed Towey, spokesman for the Florida Health Care Association, stated that pressure sores and use of restraints are two of the biggest challenges facing nursing homes today. The homes in Lee have been quite effective in using the proper precautions and using the least restrictive devices on their patients.
Although Lee has earned acclaim due to their standard of care, Florida as a whole scored poorly on the national rating. Towey did say patient care tended to be more complicated in Florida because the state’s nursing home patients tend to be older and frailer than the national average.
To find out the rankings of a specific nursing home or homes in your area, visit the Medicare website.