Central Florida’s Top Nursing Home Abuse Lawyers

The Central Florida Medical Malpractice Lawyers at Dean Burnetti Law provide professional Medical Malpractice, Medical Negligence, and Dental Malpractice Attorney Legal Services in Polk County, including: Lakeland, Auburndale, Bartow, Haines City, Lake Wales, Mulberry, Polk City, and Winter Haven; in Hillsborough County, including: Brandon, Tampa, Riverview, Valrico, and Plant City; in Pinellas County, including: Clearwater, St. Pete, Gulfport, Treasure Island, Largo, Oldsmar, Treasure Island; as well as in all of the surrounding Greater Central Florida Areas.

A “nursing home injury” refers to either the abuse to and/or the neglect of the resident of a nursing home, assisted living facility, convalescent home, elder residential facility, senior living facility, retirement home, old soldier’s home, old age home, rest home, etc.

Seniors living in residential facilities often fall prey to the very people entrusted to care for them.  Explore our website for indicators of nursing home abuse, nursing home neglect, nursing home sexual abuse, and nursing home financial abuse.

The Florida Health Care Association reports over 690 licensed Nursing Homes in Florida.  These facilities house approximately 71,000 residents at any time.  An additional 3,000 licensed Assisted Living Facilities contain approximately 106,000 residents.  This gives Florida the sixth-largest population of nursing home residents in the nation. With over 170,000 elder care residents in the state, nursing home abuse or neglect is more likely to occur in Florida than in forty-four other states.

The Agency for Health Care Administration inspects Florida Nursing Homes.  The results of their inspections are publicized, giving one to five stars for different categories.  In this ranking system, five stars means a facility is 80% to 100% better than other facilities in that region; four stars means the facility is 60% to 80% better, and so on.

Out of the 676 Florida nursing homes that were inspected:

• 128 ranked 1 star out of 5 (or 80% to 100%) for overall inspection
• 130 ranked 2 stars out of 5 (or 60% to 80%) for overall inspection
• 137 ranked 3 stars out of 5 (or 40% to 60%) for overall inspection
• 135 ranked 4 stars out of 5 (or 20% to 40%) for overall inspection
• 146 ranked 5 stars out of 5 (or 0% to 20%) for overall inspection

This means that 395 facilities – or 58% of facilities ranked – received 3 or fewer stars, or under 60%.  Furthermore, only 281 – or 42% of facilities ranked – received 4 or 5 stars, or above 60%!

In the same evaluation, certain aspects of each facility inspected were raked using the same 5-star system.

Out of the 676 Florida nursing homes ranked:

• 70 facilities received 1 star in the category of “Nutrition and Hydration”. While none received 2 stars in this category, an additional 11 received only 3 stars.
• 80 facilities received 1 star in the category of “Restraints and Abuse”.  An additional 13 facilities received only 2 stars, and none received only 3 stars.
• 81 facilities received 1 star in the category of “Pressure Ulcers / Bed Sores”.  An additional 89 facilities received only 2 stars, and 10 more received only 3 stars.
• 107 facilities received only 1 star in the category of “Preserving Residents’ Dignity”.  An additional 81 facilities received only 2 stars, and a whopping 135 received only 3 stars!

These staggering numbers offer a glimpse of just how high the potential is for nursing home abuse or neglect in Florida.

If you were injured or if a loved one was injured or killed as a result of Nursing Home Abuse or Negligence, you have the right to a qualified attorney who is skilled in Florida’s complex nursing home law and is knowledgeable about your type of injuries. Call (863) 287-6388 in Polk County or (813) 287-6388 in Hillsborough County or Pinellas County today to schedule a free confidential consultation with an experienced Nursing Home Abuse lawyer at Dean Burnetti Law.