Judge with gavel on table
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A Florida nursing home can remain open and won’t be forced to transfer its residents after an appeals court denied a push by the state’s Agency for Health Care Administration to revoke its license. 

The Florida First District Court of Appeal handed down the ruling Saturday in favor of the Destin Healthcare and Rehabilitation Center, an 119-bed skilled nursing facility in Destin, FL. The court’s one-page order approved the provider’s request to stop the state’s effort to have its license suspended. It did not offer further explanation. 

The agency filed the emergency order in court last month after finding that the facility failed to meet minimum staffing requirements for two months while still accepting new residents. The state also alleged that 12 different residents voiced concerns about the quality of care in separate interviews, documents showed. 

The provider, however, argued that the state didn’t provide enough evidence to justify the request to revoke the facility’s license and that residents were never in serious danger due to its staffing shortage. 

“The agency’s actions in the case speak louder than its words,” Destin’s attorney John Bradley wrote in court documents. 

“The agency’s actions are tantamount to calling law enforcement stating that there is an emergency then calling again asserting that the rescue should not take place for a week,” he added. 

The agency did not reveal whether the state would appeal the ruling but plans to follow up the care of current residents, according to a local report.