The Worst Nursing Homes in Phoenix, Arizona
By Craig Knapp on November 3, 2021

Finding the right nursing home for your loved one can take time, effort, and patience, but we recommend not rushing the process. Before you make a decision, get a clear and full picture of what you are dealing with. While it helps that all nursing homes certified by Medicare and/or Medicaid are regularly evaluated based on standards of health, cleanliness, and appropriate care to residents, there are still many nursing home facilities that fail to meet these standards and that could leave your loved ones in a worse state than the one they came in with.

Which are the worst nursing homes in Phoenix? Which nursing homes should you stay clear of?

With the help of data visualization agency 1Point21 Interactive and data from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), we compiled a list of the lowest-rating nursing homes and long-term care facilities in the Phoenix area (as of September 29, 2021).

The Worst Nursing Homes in Phoenix

According to data collected by CMS, we found 79 nursing home facilities within a 25-mile radius of Phoenix. Out of these 79 facilities, eight had the lowest overall rating – 1 out of 5 possible stars. According to Medicare data, the worst nursing homes in the Phoenix area (as of September 29, 2021) are:

Facility Name	Health Inspection	Staffing	Quality of Resident Care	Cited for Abuse?
Allegiant Healthcare of Phoenix, LLC	1-Star	3-Star	4-Star	Yes
Desert Haven Care Center	1-Star	1-Star	2-Star	No
Maryland Gardens Care Center	1-Star	3-Star	2-Star	No
LA Estancia Nursing and Rehabilitation Center	1-Star	2-Star	4-Star	No
Rio Vista Post Acute and Rehabilitation	1-Star	3-Star	4-Star	No
Shea Post Acute Rehabilitation Center	1-Star	3-Star	4-Star	No
Immanuel Campus of Care	1-Star	4-Star	1-Star	No
Allegiant Healthcare of Mesa	1-Star	3-Star	4-Star	No

Explaining the Ratings

Nursing homes are evaluated on CMS’s “five-star overall rating system,” which is based on the following three areas: Health Inspections, Staffing, and Quality Measures.

Health Inspections

This rating is based on the routine health inspections at the facility. In Arizona, inspections are conducted by the Arizona Department of Health (ADHS). Typically, health inspections are conducted once a year. However, if a facility is performing poorly, health inspections may occur more frequently.

Staffing

This rating is based on the number of qualified staff at a nursing home facility. By law, each facility is required to provide enough staff to safely care for residents.

Quality Measures

This metric measures the level of care the nursing home facility is able to provide its residents. The quality of resident care is measured by two types of patients: long-stay and short-stay. Long-term patients are those that remain at a nursing home facility for 101 days or longer, and short-stay patients are those that stay at a facility for 100 days or less.

Abuse or Neglect

Any nursing home facility suspected of abuse or neglect is marked with a red circle icon with a hand inside to alert consumers.

Medicare defines abuse as “the willful infliction of injury, unreasonable confinement, intimidation, or punishment with resulting physical harm, pain or mental anguish.” This includes verbal abuse, sexual abuse, physical abuse, and mental abuse.

Allegiant Healthcare of Phoenix, LLC

1880 East Van Buren Street
Phoenix, AZ 85006
(602) 253-4570

Size: 120 certified beds

Ownership: For-profit – Limited Liability company

Allegiant Healthcare of Phoenix, LLC Nursing Home Compare Scores

Health Inspection Rating	1-Star
Date of most recent health inspection	6/14/2019
Total number of health citations	24
Average number of health citations in Arizona	7.7
Average number of health citations in the U.S.	8.3
Complaints resulting in citations in the past 3 years	16
Staffing Rating	3-Star
Average number of residents per day	89.1
Licensed nurse staff hours per resident per day	3 hours and 16 minutes
Nurse aide hours per resident per day	4 hours and 15 minutes
Long-stay quality of resident care	4-Star
Federal fines in the last three years	3
Amount (s) and date (s)	$975 on 11/30/2020 $59,554 on 7/6/2020 $650 on 6/8/2020
Payment denials in the last three years	1

Desert Haven Care Center

2645 East Thomas Road
Phoenix, AZ 85016
(602) 956-8000

Size: 115 certified beds

Ownership: For-profit – Limited Liability company

Desert Haven Care Center Nursing Home Compare Scores

Health Inspection Rating	1-Star
Date of most recent health inspection	6/5/2019
Total number of health citations	9
Average number of health citations in Arizona	7.7
Average number of health citations in the U.S.	8.3
Complaints resulting in citations in the past 3 years	0
Staffing Rating	1-Star
Average number of residents per day	77.1
Licensed nurse staff hours per resident per day	1 hour and 31 minutes
Nurse aide hours per resident per day	3 hours and 16 minutes
Long-stay quality of resident care	2-Star
Federal fines in the last three years	3
Amount (s) and date (s)	$1,300 on 5/24/2021 $983 on 9/7/2020 $650 on 8/17/2020
Payment denials in the last three years	0

Maryland Gardens Care Center

31 West Maryland Avenue
Phoenix, AZ 85013
(602) 265-7484

Size: 8 certified beds

Ownership: For-profit – Corporation

Maryland Gardens Care Center Nursing Home Compare Scores

Health Inspection Rating	1-Star
Date of most recent health inspection	10/24/2019
Total number of health citations	9
Average number of health citations in Arizona	7.7
Average number of health citations in the U.S.	8.3
Complaints resulting in citations in the past 3 years	0
Staffing Rating	3-Star
Average number of residents per day	46.5
Licensed nurse staff hours per resident per day	1 hour and 25 minutes
Nurse aide hours per resident per day	1 hour and 23 minutes
Overall quality of resident care	2-Star
Short-stay quality of resident care	Limited data
Long-stay quality of resident care	2-Star
Federal fines in the last three years	0
Payment denials in the last three years	0

LA Estancia Nursing and Rehabilitation Center

15810 South 42nd Street
Phoenix, AZ 85048
(480) 759-0358

Size: 192

Ownership: For-profit – Corporation

LA Estancia Nursing and Rehabilitation Center Nursing Home Compare Scores

Health Inspection Rating	1-Star
Total number of health citations	12
Average number of health citations in Arizona	7.7
Average number of health citations in the U.S.	8.3
Complaints resulting in citations in the past 3 years	6
Staffing Rating	2-Star
Average number of residents per day	88.2
Licensed nurse staff hours per resident per day	1 hour and 37 minutes
Nurse aide hours per resident per day	1 hour and 28 minutes
Short-stay quality of resident care	4-Star
Long-stay quality of resident care	3-Star
Federal fines in the last three years	0
Payment denials in the last three years	0

Rio Vista Post Acute and Rehabilitation

10323 West Olive Avenue
Peoria, AZ 85345
(623) 875-0100

Size: 150 certified beds

Ownership: For-profit – Corporation

Rio Vista Post Acute and Rehabilitation Nursing Home Compare Scores

Health Inspection Rating	1-Star
Date of most recent health inspection	11/1/2019
Total number of health citations	10
Average number of health citations in Arizona	7.7
Average number of health citations in the U.S.	8.3
Complaints resulting in citations in the past 3 years	7
Staffing Rating	3-Star
Average number of residents per day	93.3
Licensed nurse staff hours per resident per day	1 hour and 45 minutes
Nurse aide hours per resident per day	2 hours and 6 minutes
Overall quality of resident care	4-Star
Short-stay quality of resident care	5-Star
Long-stay quality of resident care	4-Star
Federal fines in the last three years	1
Amount (s) and date (s)	$9,750 on 8/30/2018
Payment denials in the last three years	0

Shea Post Acute Rehabilitation Center

11150 North 92nd Street
Scottsdale, AZ 85260
(480) 860-1766

Size: 120 certified beds

Ownership: For-profit – Corporation

Shea Post Acute Rehabilitation Center Nursing Home Compare Scores

Health Inspection Rating	1-Star
Date of most recent health inspection	12/5/2019
Total number of health citations	11
Average number of health citations in Arizona	7.7
Average number of health citations in the U.S.	8.3
Complaints resulting in citations in the past 3 years	6
Staffing Rating	3-Star
Average number of residents per day	94
Licensed nurse staff hours per resident per day	1 hour and 21 minutes
Nurse aide hours per resident per day	1 hour and 53 minutes
Overall quality of resident care	4-Star
Short-stay quality of resident care	5-Star
Long-stay quality of resident care	2-Star
Federal fines in the last three years	1
Amount (s) and date (s)	$8,294 on 10/15/2018
Payment denials in the last three years	0

Immanuel Campus of Care

11301 North 99th Avenue
Peoria, AZ 85345
(623) 977-8373

Size: 228 certified beds

Ownership: Nonprofit – Corporation

Immanuel Campus of Care Nursing Home Compare Scores

Health Inspection Rating	1-Star
Date of most recent health inspection	3/11/2020
Total number of health citations	9
Average number of health citations in Arizona	7.7
Average number of health citations in the U.S.	8.3
Complaints resulting in citations in the past 3 years	6
Staffing Rating	4-Star
Average number of residents per day	156.9
Licensed nurse staff hours per resident per day	1 hour and 43 minutes
Nurse aide hours per resident per day	2 hours and 29 minutes
Overall quality of resident care	1-Star
Short-stay quality of resident care	Limited data
Long-stay quality of resident care	1-Star
Federal fines in the last three years	0
Payment denials in the last three years	0

Allegiant Healthcare of Mesa

3130 East Broadway Road
Mesa, AZ 85204
(480) 924-7777

Size: 201 certified beds

Ownership: For-profit – Corporation

Allegiant Healthcare of Mesa Nursing Home Compare Scores

Health Inspection Rating	1-Star
Date of most recent health inspection	8/23/2019
Total number of health citations	11
Average number of health citations in Arizona	7.7
Average number of health citations in the U.S.	8.3
Complaints resulting in citations in the past 3 years	1
Staffing Rating	3-Star
Average number of residents per day	111.4
Licensed nurse staff hours per resident per day	2 hours and 8 minutes
Nurse aide hours per resident per day	2 hours and 9 minutes
Overall quality of resident care	4-Star
Short-stay quality of resident care	5-Star
Long-stay quality of resident care	3-Star
Federal fines in the last three years	4
Amount (s) and date (s)	$14,508 on 9/24/2020 $10,995 on 6/4/2020 $50,960 on 8/23/2019 $6,500 on 7/23/2018
Payment denials in the last three years	0

How We Can Help

While there is plenty of data available online and the facility ratings are intended to help consumers make a decision, finding a suitable nursing home facility for your loved one can still be a very difficult and disconcerting process. If you are concerned about the quality of care your loved one is receiving at their nursing home facility, the attorneys at Knapp & Roberts may be able to assist you. We have resources that can provide you with the information and answers you may need at this time and the justice your loved one deserves.