Cypress Care Center (“CCC”) is the nursing home where Linda Daughtry (“Decedent”) lived for much of March and April. Her estate later sued several defendants, alleging that they operated CCC as a high-census, high-acuity facility without providing commensurate staff. The Estate alleged that this ongoing staffing shortage deprived Decedent of the care she needed.
The trial court dismissed multiple iterations of the complaint, each time finding it to be legally insufficient. Ultimately, the Estate filed its fourth amended complaint. It raised nursing home negligence claims against Arbor Facility, Inc., Apex Global Solutions, LLC, Vintage Healthcare, LLC, Millennial Healthcare Services, LLC, Michael Bleich, and Dwayne Graham. The Estate alleged that Arbor held the license to operate CCC, that Apex, Vintage, Millennial, and Bleich were management or consulting companies, and that Bleich and Graham were managing employees. Again, the Estate claimed that CCC’s chronic understaffing caused Decedent to receive poor care and suffer various injuries.
The defendants again sought dismissal. They argued that the Estate did not properly explain how they were eligible to be sued under the nursing home negligence statute or how their actions or omissions caused Decedent’s injuries. The trial court found that the Estate was “still focused on conclusions rather than facts,” and that another chance to amend the complaint would not “serve any purpose.” Accordingly, the trial court dismissed the case with prejudice. The Estate appealed.
The Fifth District Court of Appeal State of Florida held in its August 8, 2025 opinion: “the complaint alleges that decedent received substandard care because the defendants operated a chronically understaffed nursing home. The court must accept this allegation and its reasonable inferences as true … Had the court ordered Estate to amend its complaint yet again, we are hard-pressed to understand what Estate could have done to satisfy the seemingly unending demand for greater and greater detail.”
“Estate’s allegation that several defendants were management or consulting companies also does not merit dismissal. The nursing home negligence statute allows claims “against the licensee, the licensee’s management or consulting company, the licensee’s managing employees, and any direct caregivers.” § 400.023(1), Fla. Stat. A management or consulting company is “an individual or entity who contracts with, or receives a fee from, a licensee to provide” certain services. Id. § 400.023(2)(b). These services are the hiring or firing of the administrator or director of nursing, controlling staffing levels or the budget, or implementing and enforcing policies and procedures.”
Exhaustion of Administrative Remedies
“The exhaustion of administrative remedies—which the court’s order cited—also does not support dismissal. That doctrine requires “a party challenging an agency action or decision” to “exhaust all administrative remedies before seeking judicial review.” Pretzer v. Swearingen, 394 So. 3d 175, 186 (Fla. 1st DCA 2024). Estate did not challenge any agency action. Instead, it cited agency regulations when alleging the defendants’ negligence. The primary jurisdiction doctrine—a companion rule discussed by the answer briefs—is likewise irrelevant. It applies when a claim turns on issues that “a regulatory scheme” places “within the special competence of an administrative body.” Id. at 190 (quoting Flo-Sun, Inc. v. Kirk, 783 So. 2d 1029, 1037 n.5 (Fla. 2001)). Holding that it applies here would negate the express purpose of the nursing home negligence statute, which creates an “exclusive cause of action” that “may be brought in any court of competent jurisdiction.” See § 400.023(1), Fla. Stat.”
The Florida appellate court held: “Accepting Estate’s allegations as true and drawing all reasonable inferences in its favor, Estate pleaded grounds for relief under the nursing home negligence statute. Thus, the court erred by granting a dismissal with prejudice.”
Source Blanton v. Arbor Facility, Inc., Case No. 5D2024-1126.
If you or a loved one suffered harm while a resident of a nursing home in Florida or in another U.S. state due to nursing home pressure ulcers, nursing home understaffing, nursing home abuse, nursing home neglect, nursing home negligence, or the failure to provide appropriate care for a vulnerable adult, you should promptly find a nursing home claim lawyer in Florida or in your state who may investigate your nursing home claim for you and file a nursing home claim on your behalf or behalf of your loved one, if appropriate.
Visit our website to be connected with medical malpractice attorneys (nursing home negligence attorneys) in your U.S. state who may assist you with your nursing home claim, or call us toll-free in the United States at 800-295-3959.
Turn to us when you don’t know where to turn.
