The state began on Saturday releasing the names of nursing homes and assisted living facilities where there are confirmed cases of COVID-19, Gov. Ron DeSantis announced.
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There were 303 long-term care facilities with positive COVID-19 cases totaling 1,694. At least 169 of Florida’s 748 deaths from COVID-19 were related to infections at these facilities.
The decision to release the names of the facilities was based on concerns for public health, DeSantis said.
“I told the surgeon general from the beginning that we want to put as much information out as we can,” DeSantis said. “I have now directed him to determine that it is necessary for public health to release the names of facilities.”
Directors of the facilities had been required to notify all staff members, residents and their families when a positive case of COVID-19 was found at a facility, DeSantis said.
“I think they all have done that, but all it takes is if one doesn’t do it,” he said. “I think I would want to know that.”
Florida officials had been refusing to release the information since the start of the outbreak, despite requests to do so and a potential open records lawsuit from the Miami Herald and other media outlets.
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In some cases, the information was released by the county or by the nursing homes themselves.
That was the case at a nursing home in Seminole, where three people have died and dozens were hospitalized following an outbreak of COVID-19.
The Seminole Pavilion Rehabilitation center at Freedom Square of Seminole was eventually evacuated on Friday and shut down.
Initial reports said that 21 residents and six employees at the nursing home tested positive for the disease. On Saturday, the nursing home announced that three more patients and 13 employees tested positive for COVID-19, according to the Tampa Bay Times.
(Editor's note: The list below has been modified to remove a facility inproperly listed in a previous report from the state.)
Other nursing homes in the Tampa Bay area with cases include:
Hillsborough
- Freedom Plaza
- Inspired Living At Tampa
- Promise Pointe At Tampa Oaks
- Rocky Creek Village
Pinellas
- Arc Of Tampa Bay: Al Hambra
- Arc Of Tampa Bay: Clearwater
- Arc Of Tampa Bay: Safety Harbor
- Bay Tree Center P
- Belleair Health Care Center P
- Consulate Health Care of Safety Harbor
- Consulate Health Care of St. Petersburg
- Heron House Of Largo
- Highland Pines Rehabilitation Center
- Inn At Freedom Square (The)
- Inn At Lake Seminole Square (The)
- Lakeside Oaks Care Center Pinellas
- Manorcare Health Services Dunedin
- Masonic Home Of Florida
- Morton Plant Rehabilitation Center
- Palm Garden Of Clearwater
- Palm Garden Of Largo
- Pinellas Point Nursing And Rehab Center
- Regal Palms
- Seminole Pavilion Rehabilitation & Nursing Services
- South Heritage Health & Rehabilitation Center
- St. Mark Assisted Living Center
- St. Mark Village Pinellas
- Tierra Pines Center
Manatee
- Braden River Rehabilitation Center Llc
- Bradenton Health Care
- Brookdale Bradenton Gardens
- Casa Mora Rehabilitation And Extended Care
- Manatee Springs Rehabilitation And Nursing Center
- Residence At Bay Vue
- Riviera Palms Rehabilitation Center
- Westminster Point Pleasant
Sarasota
- A Banyan Residence
- Bay Breeze Health And Rehabilitation Center
- Beneva Lakes Healthcare And Rehabilitation Center
- Brookdale Deer Creek Sarasota
- Consulate Health Care Of Sarasota
- Glenridge On Palmer Ranch Inc.
- Magnolia Acres
- Magnolia Health And Rehabilitation Center
- Pines Of Sarasota
- Sarasota Point Rehabilitation Center
Polk
- Consulate Health Care Of Lakeland
- Highlands Lake Center
- Lakeland Hills Center
- Merrill Gardens At Championsgate
- Palm Garden Of Winter Haven
Pasco
- Grand Villa Of New Port Richey
- Royal Oaks Nursing Center
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