St. Petersburg, Florida — When a nursing home lands on the federal government’s Special Focus Facilities list, it’s not a warning. It’s a verdict.
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services maintains a list of the worst-performing nursing homes in the country — facilities with prolonged records of serious deficiencies, repeated violations, and threats to resident safety. Only 88 of the more than 15,000 licensed nursing homes in the United States currently make the list. In Florida’s Tampa Bay region, two just did.
What the SFF Designation Really Means
Aventura at the Bay in St. Petersburg and The Groves Center in Lake Wales were both added to the Special Focus Facilities list after inspectors documented repeated, serious violations. Aventura was cited for 23 deficiencies in a single inspection — more than three times Florida’s state average of 7.3. It also failed residents during Hurricanes Helene and Milton in 2024, moving patients to an unapproved church shelter without adequate food, refrigeration, or air conditioning. One resident described being packed in “like sardines.”
The Groves Center’s problems included a patient hospitalized for gangrene and sepsis from an untreated urinary tract infection, residents who didn’t receive prescribed wound care, and a fracture with no documentation in the file. The facility has racked up more than $162,000 in fines since 2023.
Aventura’s fines were worse — $114,400 in 2025 alone and $291,000 in 2024. For context, the national average CMS fine is around $10,000 to $20,000.
“The average fine in the country is like $10,000, $20,000. It’s nothing like $291,000. That’s a lot,” said Toby Edelman, senior policy attorney for the Center for Medicare Advocacy.
High Staff Turnover, Repeated Mistakes
Beyond the violations, both facilities show troubling workforce instability. Aventura at the Bay reports an annual staff turnover rate of 64.7 percent. The Groves Center’s is 60 percent. Research consistently links high staff turnover to lower-quality resident care — and it helps explain why some facilities cycle through the same problems year after year without improvement.
“It seems that in some areas they aren’t learning from their mistakes, they’re just repeating them over and over again,” said Amy Cordell, a former Aventura resident who has contacted state regulators repeatedly about conditions there.
This pattern isn’t unique to Florida. SCJ has tracked a broader national enforcement gap, including an Ohio facility that spent nearly two years on the SFF list — a program that was designed to pressure change but has shown uneven results. Some facilities remain on the list for years without meaningful improvement.
How Families Can Use This Tool
The Special Focus Facilities list is publicly available through CMS and searchable on Medicare’s Care Compare website. Families looking for nursing home placement should check it before making any decision. An SFF designation means CMS has determined the facility has had significant, persistent problems — and that it’s under enhanced scrutiny.
“Definitely avoid a Special Focus Facility. This is not a place where you want anybody to be,” Edelman said.
CMS updates the list regularly. The March 2026 posting identified 88 current SFF facilities nationwide. Families can also check a facility’s full inspection history and fine record through the Care Compare database, which includes deficiency citations going back several years.
Neither Aventura at the Bay nor The Groves Center responded to questions about their improvement plans. The Groves Center said in a statement that it is “currently in compliance with all state and federal regulations” and remains “committed to the safety and well-being” of residents.
