Medicare (aka CMS) pays almost every nursing home in America with taxpayer dollars. Nursing homes are required to maintain certain quality standards in order to have the privilege of using the American public’s money. CMS has maintained a program for some years to focus on certain facilities with “serious quality issues.” CMS calls this program the Special Focus Facility (SFF) program.
The SFF list is published periodically, and this December 7, 2022 SFF list is a sample of a recent one. This document outlines the key aspects of the SFF nursing home program, and contains tables showing:
- Current SFF Facilities
- Facilities That Have Graduated from the SFF Program
- Facilities that are No Longer in Medicare and Medicaid
- SFF Candidate list
There are Georgia nursing homes, Kentucky nursing homes, North Carolina nursing homes, and Tennessee nursing homes on this list. Current Georgia SFF nursing homes include:
- RIVER BROOK HEALTHCARE CENTER – HOMERVILLE GA AND
- PIONEER HEALTH OF CENTRAL GEORGIA – BYROMVILLE GA
The Candidate list on the list referenced above contains the following Georgia nursing homes:
- CENTER FOR ADVANCED REHAB AT PARKSIDE – ROSSVILLE GA
- CHULIO HILLS HEALTH AND REHAB – ROME GA
- CROSSVIEW CARE CENTER – PINEVIEW GA
- EAST LAKE ARBOR – DECATUR GA
- GREEN ACRES HEALTH AND REHABILITATION – MILLEDGEVILLE GA
- MEADOWBROOK HEALTH AND REHAB – TUCKER GA
- PINEWOOD NURSING CENTER – WHIGHAM GA
- PROVIDENCE HEALTHCARE – THOMASTON GA
- PRUITTHEALTH – VIRGINIA PARK – ATLANTA GA
- RENAISSANCE CENTER FOR NURSING AND HEALING – GRIFFIN GA
A nursing home being in the SFF program does not necessarily mean there was negligence in any particular case, but it is a strong suggestion in my experience that a case involving the injury or wrongful death of a nursing home resident needs to be investigated by an experienced nursing home abuse attorney and medical experts as appropriate. In my experience, lack of staff underlies most nursing home negligence and abuse, and also underlies other quality problems that land nursing homes on the SFF list.
Contact Pleasant Law, PLLC if you or someone you know has been hurt in a nursing home or assisted living facility in Georgia. It’s free to speak to someone about your potential case or lawsuit.
