Sarasota Senior AdvisorWho licenses assisted living facilities in Sarasota and Manatee counties?
The Florida Agency for Health Care Administration (AHCA) licenses every assisted living facility, nursing home, home health agency, hospice, adult day care center and adult family care home in both counties; neither county nor any city issues care licenses.
AHCA's field offices are numbered on each profile: Manatee facilities show office 06 and Sarasota facilities office 08.
How long is a Florida ALF license valid?
Two years; licenses are biennial under Chapter 408, Part II, and relicensure inspections are normally unannounced and every two years.
Facilities with an excellent record may be inspected less often, though AHCA must still visit at least 10 percent of them.
What does 'In Review' mean on a Florida facility license?
It means AHCA is processing an application for that license, most often a renewal or a change of ownership, and the facility generally keeps operating under its existing license meanwhile.
If a status stays In Review for months, ask the administrator what is pending.
What is a provisional license in Florida?
A provisional license is a temporary license AHCA issues while a facility completes requirements, for example a new facility awaiting its first full survey or a first-time ECC license, which is provisional for up to six months.
Ask what the facility must complete to receive a standard license.
Can an assisted living facility in Florida have more than one specialty license?
Yes; a facility can hold ECC, LNS and LMH together on top of its standard license, and each appears on its AHCA profile.
Each specialty license adds monitoring visits and fees.
Does Florida rate assisted living facilities?
No: Florida publishes inspection histories, sanctions and license data for assisted living but no star ratings, and CMS rates only certified nursing homes.
Any assisted living 'rating' you see online comes from a private website, not the state.
What is AHCA's FloridaHealthFinder?
FloridaHealthFinder is AHCA's public website for health facility information, including the Facility/Provider Locator with each licensed provider's profile, sanctions and inspection history.
The locator is at quality.healthfinder.fl.gov.
What is AHCA's role versus the Department of Elder Affairs?
AHCA licenses, inspects and sanctions care facilities and runs Florida Medicaid, while the Department of Elder Affairs funds the Area Agencies on Aging, runs the Long-Term Care Ombudsman Program and SHINE, sets ALF training requirements and assesses medical eligibility for long-term care through CARES.
Both agencies are in Tallahassee and work with local offices.
Do Florida ALF administrators need a license?
Florida does not license ALF administrators the way it licenses nursing home administrators, but they must meet the qualifications, background screening, core training and competency test requirements in rule 59A-36.010.
Nursing home administrators are licensed by the Department of Health.
