Ideally, every nursing home would offer the highest level of care, and people could trust the people in whose hands they’re leaving the well-being of their loved ones. Sadly, that’s not the world we live in.
All nursing homes are not created equal. Knowing which facilities you can trust and which ones have a poor reputation can help you make smarter decisions about your loved one’s care. That’s true whether you’re considering placing your loved one in a nursing home or researching a nursing home your loved one is currently in after growing suspicious over the level of care your loved one is receiving.
Before we look at Alabama nursing homes with less-than-stellar reputations, let’s talk about how we’re evaluating the quality of care these facilities provide.
Determining the Worst Nursing Homes in Alabama
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) provides a list of “special focus facilities” (SFF) on its website. SFFs are nursing homes that have a history of serious quality issues or are included in a special program to stimulate improvements in their quality of care.
We’ve reviewed that list along with Medicare’s Nursing Home Compare tool to identify nursing homes that fare poorly in Medicare’s overall rating system.
What Are the Worst Nursing Homes in Alabama?
Ahava Healthcare of Alabaster in Alabaster, AL is listed by the CMS as an SFF that hasn’t improved since being put on the SFF list. Five additional nursing homes in Alabama are included as candidates for the SFF list, which simply means they qualify to be placed on the official list of nursing homes that need improvements.
Those nursing homes include:
- Attalla Health and Rehab (Attalla, AL)
- Diversicare of Foley (Foley, AL)
- Diversicare of Pell City (Pell City, AL)
- Merry Wood Lodge (Elmore, AL)
- Village at Cook Springs Skilled Nursing Facility (Pell City, AL)
Several more facilities in Alabama are rated by Medicare as having just one star (out of five) in their overall rating. One star means that a facility rates “well below average.” The following facilities all have just one star as of February 2021.
- Caregivers of Pleasant Grove, Inc. (Pleasant Grove, AL)
- Magnolia Ridge (Gardendale, AL)
- Coosa Valley Health and Rehab (Glencoe, AL)
- North Mobile Nursing and Rehabilitation CTR (Eight Mile, AL)
- Montgomery Health and Rehab, LLC (Montgomery, AL)
- West Hill Health and Rehab (Birmingham, AL)
- Park Manor Health and Rehabilitation, LLC (Northport, AL)
- Lighthouse Rehabilitation & Healthcare Center (Selma, AL)
- Kensington Health and Rehabilitation (Mobile, AL)
- Orchard Rehabilitation & Healthcare Center (Hayneville, AL)
- Knollwood Healthcare (Mobile, AL)
- Father Purcell Memorial Exceptional Children’s Center (Montgomery, AL)
- LaFayette Nursing Home (LaFayette, AL)
- Diversicare of Riverchase (Birmingham, AL)
- Oaks on Parkwood Skilled Nursing Facility (Bessemer, AL)
- Aspire Physical Recovery Center at Hoover (Hoover, AL)
- Trussville Health & Rehabilitation Center (Trussville, AL)
- Forest Manor Health and Rehab (Northport, AL)
- Robertsdale Rehabilitation & Healthcare Ctr (Robertsdale, AL)
- Huntsville Health & Rehabilitation, LLC (Huntsville, AL)
- Diversicare of Big Springs (Huntsville, AL)
To help you identify facilities near you with reported problems, you can read our article about An Updated Tool to Identify Local Nursing Homes With Deficiencies.
Why There Are Always Exceptions to These Rankings
Within any given facility, the quality of care can vary. Even nursing homes with poor ratings can have good staff members. Conversely, “good” nursing homes can also be negligent if just one employee treats residents poorly.
That being said, we often find that certain nursing homes have such systemic problems that they are far more likely to allow inadequate care, abuse, or neglect in their facilities. So, if you see a familiar name on the list above, you’re right to be concerned and do your due diligence to make sure your loved one is safe.
To learn more about this topic, we suggest you check out our post on Why You Should Be Skeptical When Viewing Nursing Home Ratings.
If You’re Concerned About Your Loved One, We Can Help
If you believe your loved one is being mistreated, neglected, or abused in their nursing home, you should know that you have legal options. We offer free, confidential case assessments to help you determine the best path forward for your loved one.
Contact the Alabama nursing home lawyer J.P. Sawyer today to learn how we can help.
This post was originally published in November 2020. It has been updated to reflect 2021 ratings.
More suggested reading on Alabama nursing home safety: