CommuniCare Health Services: Chain Profile, Lawsuits, and Investigations

CommuniCare Health Services: Key Facts

• What it is: a privately held, for-profit skilled nursing facility chain, branded the "CommuniCare Family of Companies."^[1][5]
• Founded: 1984 by Stephen L. Rosedale; headquartered in Blue Ash, Ohio (Cincinnati area).^[5][6]
• Size: 122 CMS-affiliated nursing facilities and about 13,637 certified beds across six states — Ohio, West Virginia, Indiana, Maryland, Virginia, and Pennsylvania.^[1]
• CMS quality: chain averages of 3.0 of 5 overall, 2.5 health inspection, and 2.6 staffing; 7 Special Focus candidates and 19 facilities with a CMS abuse icon.^[1]
• Legal & regulatory: a pending wrongful-death lawsuit over a Cincinnati facility, a 2024 Maryland Attorney General False Claims Act settlement, and about $5.16 million in CMS fines across the chain.^[1][8][9]
• Our involvement: Michael Hill Trial Law is investigating claims against CommuniCare facilities and has handled more than a dozen CommuniCare cases.^[10]

Who Is CommuniCare Health Services?

CommuniCare Health Services is a privately held, family-owned post-acute healthcare company, publicly branded as the CommuniCare Family of Companies. It is one of the larger operators of skilled nursing facilities in the country and has described itself as, at one point, the second-largest provider of skilled nursing care in Maryland.^[4]

The company was founded in 1984 by Stephen L. Rosedale, who remains its Founder and Chairman of the Board. It began with six skilled nursing facilities in Ohio and adopted the "CommuniCare Family of Companies" name in 2004.^[5] CommuniCare is headquartered in Blue Ash, Ohio, a suburb of Cincinnati.^[6] The company marked its 40th anniversary in 2024.^[5]

What Kind of Chain Is CommuniCare?

CommuniCare is primarily a skilled nursing facility (SNF) chain. Skilled nursing facilities care for patients who need 24-hour nursing care, often after a hospital stay.^[1] The company also advertises long-term care, short-term rehabilitation, assisted living, independent living, and long-term acute care hospital services, and operates specialty and "Advanced 360" care programs at some locations.^[5] Its facilities commonly operate under names ending in "Healthcare Center," "Health & Rehabilitation Center," or "Rehabilitation and Wellness Center," all tracked by CMS as part of the same affiliated entity.^[1]

How Big Is the CommuniCare Nursing Home Chain?

CommuniCare by the Numbers

Public and federal sources describe the chain's size as follows:

Facility, state, and certified-bed counts are from federal CMS data (May 2026 release).^[1]

According to federal CMS data, the CommuniCare Health affiliated entity (CMS chain ID 153) is affiliated with 122 facilities across Ohio, West Virginia, Indiana, Maryland, Virginia, and Pennsylvania.^[1][3] By state, CMS data shows 41 facilities in West Virginia, 37 in Ohio, 18 in Indiana, 17 in Maryland, 5 in Virginia, and 4 in Pennsylvania.^[1] The chain grew largely through acquisition — entering Pennsylvania in 2005, Maryland in 2008, West Virginia in 2016, and Virginia and Indiana in 2017, among other expansions.^[5]

How CommuniCare Grew

CommuniCare started in 1984 with six Ohio facilities and expanded steadily over four decades through acquisitions and new service lines, including home health, therapy operations, assisted living, and long-term acute care hospitals.^[5] In recent years it has continued to acquire and take over management of skilled nursing centers across its six-state footprint, including multi-facility transactions in Ohio, Indiana, and West Virginia.^[4][7]

Is CommuniCare For-Profit or Nonprofit? Ownership and Revenue

CommuniCare operates predominantly as a for-profit, privately held enterprise. It is family-owned and is not publicly traded, so there is no public stock or SEC-reported financial statement. In CMS provider records, the large majority of its 122 affiliated facilities are listed under for-profit ownership structures — corporations and limited liability companies — with a small number under non-profit or government ownership arrangements.^[1][5]

Because the company is private, audited company-wide financial figures are not publicly filed, and this page does not state a revenue or net-worth figure that we could not independently verify. Like most nursing home operators, CommuniCare depends heavily on government healthcare programs, billing Medicare and Medicaid for resident care.^[1]

CommuniCare Nursing Home Facilities

The table below is the complete roster of the 122 nursing facilities affiliated with CommuniCare Health (CMS chain ID 153), taken directly from the federal CMS Provider Information dataset (May 2026 release). It lists each facility's name, city and state, street address, and phone number, along with any current CMS quality flag. The facility list can change as the company acquires and divests properties, so this roster should be refreshed from the CMS data on each republish.^[1]

The "CMS Flag" column marks homes that CMS has identified as a Special Focus Facility Candidate, behind on inspections ("Delayed inspection"), or carrying an abuse icon.^[1]

Rows shaded gold carry one or more CMS quality flags. Source: CMS Provider Information dataset, May 2026.^[1] Phone numbers are as listed in CMS provider records and may change.

Special Focus Facilities and SFF Candidates in the CommuniCare Chain

The Special Focus Facility (SFF) program is run by CMS. It identifies nursing homes with a history of serious quality problems and subjects them to heightened oversight. A "Special Focus Facility Candidate" is a home with a history of serious quality issues that has not yet been formally placed in the program.^[3]

According to the federal CMS Provider Information dataset (May 2026 release), the CommuniCare chain included 0 formally designated Special Focus Facilities, 7 Special Focus Facility Candidates, and 9 homes whose most recent standard health inspection was more than two years ago. CMS data also showed 19 CommuniCare facilities carrying an abuse icon, meaning they were cited for abuse or neglect at or above a defined harm level.^[1]

These designations are reassessed by CMS regularly and can change. The specific facilities below reflect the May 2026 CMS data.

CommuniCare Special Focus Facility Candidates

These 7 facilities were listed as Special Focus Facility Candidates:^[1]

• Southwood Healthcare Center — Terre Haute, IN (also carries an abuse icon)
• Dixon Healthcare Center — Wintersville, OH (also carries an abuse icon)
• Canfield Healthcare Center — Youngstown, OH (also carries an abuse icon)
• Salem West Healthcare Center — Salem, OH (also carries an abuse icon)
• Bristol Health & Rehab Center — Bristol, PA (also carries an abuse icon)
• Mount Vernon Healthcare Center — Alexandria, VA (also carries an abuse icon)
• Summers Healthcare Center — Hinton, WV

CommuniCare Facilities Carrying an Abuse Icon

These 19 facilities carried a CMS abuse icon, indicating a citation for abuse or neglect at or above a defined harm level:^[1]

• Indian Creek Healthcare Center — Corydon, IN
• Southwood Healthcare Center — Terre Haute, IN
• Westminster Rehabilitation and Wellness Center — Westminster, MD
• Ellicott City Healthcare Center — Ellicott City, MD
• Holly Hill Healthcare Center — Towson, MD
• Hidden Waters Rehabilitation and Wellness Center — Clinton, MD
• Hagerstown Healthcare Center — Hagerstown, MD
• Blue Point Healthcare Center — Baltimore, MD
• Evergreen Healthcare Center — Montpelier, OH
• Dixon Healthcare Center — Wintersville, OH
• Wyant Woods Healthcare Center — Akron, OH
• Canfield Healthcare Center — Youngstown, OH
• Salem West Healthcare Center — Salem, OH
• Bristol Health & Rehab Center — Bristol, PA
• Rose Meadows Health & Rehab Center — Pittsburgh, PA
• Petersburg Healthcare Center — Petersburg, VA
• Mount Vernon Healthcare Center — Alexandria, VA
• Clay Healthcare Center — Ivydale, WV
• Willow Tree Healthcare Center — Charles Town, WV

CommuniCare Quality and Staffing Record

Federal data offers a mixed picture of the chain. CMS chain-level averages for the CommuniCare Health entity show an average overall rating of 3.0 out of 5, an average health-inspection rating of 2.5 out of 5, and an average staffing rating of 2.6 out of 5, with health-inspection and staffing both below the midpoint of the five-star scale.^[1]

Of the 122 facilities, 51 carried a 1- or 2-star overall rating (16 of them rated 1 star, "much below average"), while 44 were rated 4 or 5 stars — illustrating wide variation from one building to the next.^[1] A low staffing or inspection rating does not, by itself, establish that any particular resident was harmed; it is one publicly reported indicator among many.

In our cases against nursing home chains, understaffing is a recurring theme, and it is central to our pending lawsuit against a CommuniCare facility, which alleges the home was chronically understaffed.^[9]

CommuniCare Lawsuits, Fines, and Government Actions

CommuniCare facilities have been the subject of litigation, substantial federal fines, and at least one state False Claims Act settlement. The matters below are drawn from court filings, the firm's own case record, government data, and published reporting. Except where a settlement or finding is noted, the descriptions reflect allegations that have not been proven in court, and the facilities and companies named are entitled to defend against them.

Three Rivers Healthcare Center — Wrongful-Death Lawsuit (Cincinnati, Ohio)

Michael Hill Trial Law represents the family of Dolores Niederhelman in a wrongful-death lawsuit against Three Rivers Healthcare Center, a CommuniCare facility in Cincinnati — Estate of Dolores L. Niederhelman v. Three Rivers Healthcare Center aka 3R Operating Co, LLC, et al., Hamilton County, Ohio (Case No. A 2400404). The lawsuit alleges that on January 26, 2023, surveillance video recorded another resident pulling Ms. Niederhelman from her bed to the floor, that staff failed to promptly assess or treat her resulting shoulder fractures, and that the facility did not promptly or accurately notify her family. She was later found to have an infection consistent with sepsis and died on January 30, 2023. The complaint brings claims for negligence, wrongful death, and violations of nursing home resident-rights laws, and alleges chronic understaffing. These remain allegations; the litigation is pending and has not been adjudicated.^[9]

Maryland Attorney General — False Claims Act "Worthless Services" Settlement (Ellicott City)

In 2024, following an investigation by the Maryland Attorney General's Medicaid Fraud and Vulnerable Victims Unit, CommuniCare settled allegations concerning its Ellicott City Healthcare Center in Howard County, Maryland. Reporting on the settlement stated that CommuniCare agreed to pay $400,000 and to three years of monitoring by an independent, third-party overseer at its own expense. State investigators described the matter as the first time Maryland used the False Claims Act and a "worthless services" theory against a nursing facility — alleging that Medicaid was billed for services that were not actually being provided, based on facility-wide violations including medication errors and unwitnessed falls. CommuniCare stated that it takes survey findings seriously and has invested in renovations, management changes, and new processes.^[8]

Additional State Inspection Findings

Published reporting on the same Maryland investigation noted that CommuniCare's Clinton (Hidden Waters) facility in Clinton, Maryland had received roughly 35 health citations — about twice the state average — and that Mount Vernon Healthcare Center in Alexandria, Virginia had received 56 violations in a 2022 inspection. CommuniCare has stated that these facilities have since improved and that it has invested millions in renovations.^[8]

Federal Fines and Payment Denials

CMS penalty records (May 2026) show the CommuniCare facilities collectively received 108 federal penalties over the most recent reporting window — 97 monetary fines and 11 payment denials — totaling approximately $5.16 million in fines across the chain.^[1] The largest individual fines on record include:

Source: CMS Penalties dataset, May 2026.^[1]

Medicare and Medicaid Matters Involving CommuniCare

CommuniCare facilities participate in Medicare and Medicaid. The principal publicly documented government program enforcement action identified for this chain is the Maryland Attorney General's False Claims Act settlement concerning the Ellicott City facility, described above, in which the state alleged that Medicaid was billed for "worthless services."^[8]

It is important to be precise about what has and has not been established. The public records reviewed for this page did not establish a finalized, chain-wide federal Medicare or Medicaid fraud settlement specifically against CommuniCare Health Services. (A widely reported $11.2 million federal rehabilitation-therapy settlement in 2021 involved a different, Georgia-based operator, SavaSeniorCare, not CommuniCare.) We continue to monitor federal and state enforcement dockets and will update this page as verified records become available.^[1]

How Michael Hill Trial Law Investigates Claims Against CommuniCare

Michael Hill Trial Law focuses exclusively on nursing home abuse and neglect. The firm has handled more than 1,000 cases against nursing home operators and has recovered hundreds of millions of dollars for clients, including a $26 million verdict in Ohio. We have handled more than a dozen cases involving CommuniCare facilities, and we currently represent the family of a resident in a pending wrongful-death lawsuit against a CommuniCare facility in Cincinnati.^[9][10]

Financial pressure on a large, fast-growing chain can affect care at the bedside. When staffing is thin, when administrators are stretched across multiple buildings, or when a facility carries a history of serious deficiencies, residents can suffer preventable harm. When we investigate a claim against a CommuniCare facility, we compare the home's CMS staffing and inspection record against what happened to the resident, gather the facility's records and any available surveillance footage, and pinpoint where care fell below the required standard. The kinds of injuries and claims our firm investigates include:

• Bedsores and pressure injuries
• Falls and fractures
• Malnutrition and dehydration
• Infections and sepsis
• Medication errors
• Elopement (wandering away from a facility)
• Choking
• Physical or sexual assault
• Understaffing
• Wrongful death

We are investigating claims against facilities operated by CommuniCare Health Services and the CommuniCare Family of Companies. If your loved one was injured or died in a CommuniCare nursing home, the public record on this page may be relevant to your situation. Our firm serves families nationwide, including throughout the Western United States.

Frequently Asked Questions About CommuniCare

Who owns CommuniCare Health Services?

CommuniCare is a privately held, family-owned company founded in 1984 by Stephen L. Rosedale, who remains its Founder and Chairman. It is headquartered in Blue Ash, Ohio, a suburb of Cincinnati, and is publicly branded as the CommuniCare Family of Companies.^[5][6]

How many nursing homes does CommuniCare operate?

Federal CMS data links 122 nursing facilities to CommuniCare Health (chain ID 153), with about 13,637 certified beds, across six states: Ohio, West Virginia, Indiana, Maryland, Virginia, and Pennsylvania.^[1]

Is CommuniCare for-profit or nonprofit?

CommuniCare operates predominantly as a for-profit, privately held company and is not publicly traded. In CMS records, the large majority of its facilities are for-profit corporations or limited liability companies, with a small number under non-profit or government arrangements.^[1][5]

Has CommuniCare been sued or investigated?

Yes. Michael Hill Trial Law has a pending wrongful-death lawsuit involving the Three Rivers Healthcare Center in Cincinnati. In 2024 the Maryland Attorney General reached a False Claims Act "worthless services" settlement over CommuniCare's Ellicott City facility, which included a $400,000 payment and three years of independent monitoring. CMS records also show about $5.16 million in fines across the chain. Except for the noted settlement, these are allegations that have not been proven in court.^[8][9][1]

How is CommuniCare rated by Medicare?

CMS chain-level averages are 3.0 out of 5 overall, 2.5 for health inspections, and 2.6 for staffing. Of 122 facilities, 51 carry a 1- or 2-star overall rating, 19 carry a CMS abuse icon, and 7 are Special Focus Facility candidates.^[1]

Where are CommuniCare nursing homes located?

By state, CMS data shows 41 facilities in West Virginia, 37 in Ohio, 18 in Indiana, 17 in Maryland, 5 in Virginia, and 4 in Pennsylvania. A full directory with addresses and phone numbers is included on this page.^[1]

What should I do if a loved one was harmed at a CommuniCare facility?

You can speak with a nursing home abuse attorney about your legal options. Michael Hill Trial Law focuses exclusively on nursing home abuse and neglect, has handled more than a dozen cases involving CommuniCare facilities, and investigates claims nationwide.^[10]

Sources

1. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Provider Data Catalog, Nursing Home "Provider Information" and "Penalties" datasets (NH_ProviderInfo_May2026.csv; NH_Penalties_May2026.csv), filtered to CommuniCare Health, chain ID 153. https://data.cms.gov/provider-data/
2. Medicare Care Compare, CommuniCare Health chain detail (chain 153). https://www.medicare.gov/care-compare/
3. ProPublica Nursing Home Inspect, "All nursing homes affiliated with CommuniCare Health," CMS affiliated-entity data (May 2026). https://projects.propublica.org/nursing-homes/affiliate/a-153
4. CommuniCare Family of Companies, corporate news and press releases (acquisitions and expansions; "second-largest provider of skilled nursing care in Maryland"). https://communicarehealth.com/news/
5. CommuniCare Family of Companies, "Celebrating 40 years of caring: CommuniCare's journey through the decades" (founding 1984 by Stephen L. Rosedale; six Ohio facilities; 2004 renaming; six-state footprint; growth milestones). https://communicarehealth.com/
6. Blue Ash Advance, "Communicare celebrates new Blue Ash HQ" (corporate headquarters in Blue Ash, Ohio). https://www.blueashadvance.com/
7. Senior Housing Business / McKnight's Long-Term Care News, coverage of CommuniCare multi-facility skilled nursing acquisitions in Ohio and other states. https://www.mcknights.com/
8. NBC4 Washington (WRC-TV), "Maryland nursing home under historic oversight after state investigation" (Aug. 15-16, 2024; Ellicott City Healthcare Center; Maryland Attorney General Medicaid Fraud and Vulnerable Victims Unit; $400,000 settlement; three years of independent monitoring; False Claims Act "worthless services" theory; Clinton and Mount Vernon facility citations). https://www.nbcwashington.com/news/local/maryland-nursing-home-under-historic-oversight-after-state-investigation/3695510/
9. Michael Hill Trial Law, "Fatal Oversight: Ohio Family Sues Cincinnati Nursing Home After Resident's Death from Attack" (Estate of Dolores L. Niederhelman v. Three Rivers Healthcare Center aka 3R Operating Co, LLC, et al., Hamilton County, Ohio, Case No. A 2400404; describes the allegations and CommuniCare affiliation). https://protectseniors.com/articles/fatal-oversight-ohio-family-sues-cincinnati-nursing-home-after-residents-death-from-attack
10. Michael Hill Trial Law. https://protectseniors.com/