US News & World Report came out with a major article ranking the quality of 5,000 nursing homes around the country.
The article in the Feb., 2010 issue described the top 173 homes in the nation, and only two were in Florida, located in Miami.
Local County officials might read this and say "that is too bad..." and go back to arguing about Niagara water or the Comp Plan.
And that is why there is no leadership in this County. If there were true leaders, they would read the article, and then...
hold a summit of the local nursing home managers to investigate what could be done to bring Lake County Nursing homes up to the top of the list. They could also have the County health department chair an action committee to improve local rankings in all medical services.
Imagine, here is an industry that could attract more people (customers) to Lake County and provide jobs, if only they had good ratings. But, they don't.
So, maybe the next generation of County leaders will take charge on issues like this in this industry and others to make Lake County an attractive place for new residents, and create jobs.
Think about it... Tavares did it with Seaplanes, what could be next, IF ONLY there were Lake County leaders to initiate such programs.
But, you can go to the US News & World Report website HERE and see the top Florida nursing homes, and out of 78 top nursing homes in Florida there are only TWO local Lake County nursing homes in Eustis (Bayview), and Altoona (Lakeview Terrace), The top ones received a top overall rating of 5 stars from the federal government's Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services based on data reflecting health inspections, nurse staffing, and quality measures of medical care
Vance Jochim
Republican Candidate for Lake County Commission, DIST 4.