Life Care Center of Littleton
1500 W Mineral Ave, Littleton, CO 80120 · Arapahoe County · 120 certified beds · avg 104 residents/day · certified since Jun 11, 1998
Part of chain: LIFE CARE CENTERS OF AMERICA (194 facilities, chain avg rating 3.4★)
What health inspectors found (on-site government inspections — the most independent evidence available)
Health inspection rating: ★★☆☆☆2/5 · CMS overall rating: 3/5
The health inspection star above is graded on a curve within each state — a set share of each state's facilities gets each star level — so a facility can have few citations and still rate 2–3 stars if others in its state did even better. The overall rating combines that inspection score with staffing and self-reported quality measures.
Most serious findings (actual harm or immediate jeopardy)
▲ Actual harm, one-off · Nov 7, 2024 · F-0689 · triggered by a complaint
The facility did not keep the environment free of accident hazards, or did not provide enough supervision to prevent accidents like falls.
Why it matters: This is one of the most common citations and directly relates to falls and injuries, which can be devastating for older adults.
Severity (G): One or a few residents were actually harmed — physically or emotionally — though not put in immediate danger of serious injury or death.
Corrected: Nov 27, 2024 (Deficient, Provider has date of correction)
All citations in the current public record (26)
CMS publishes roughly the last three inspection cycles plus recent complaint investigations. Older surveys drop out of the record as new ones are completed.
| Date | Severity | What the facility was cited for |
|---|---|---|
| Nov 7, 2024 | ▲ G · Actual harm, one-off | The facility did not keep the environment free of accident hazards, or did not provide enough supervision to prevent accidents like falls. · from a complaint |
| Nov 7, 2024 | F · Potential for harm, facility-wide | The facility did not get its food from approved, safe sources, or did not store, prepare, and serve food according to professional food safety standards. |
| Nov 7, 2024 | E · Potential for harm, repeated | The facility did not have or follow an effective program to prevent and control infections — such as proper hand washing, cleaning, and isolation practices. This is the most commonly cited deficiency nationwide. |
| Nov 7, 2024 | D · Potential for harm, one-off | The facility did not honor residents' right to make their own choices about their daily lives, such as when to wake up, what to eat, or how to spend their time. |
| Nov 7, 2024 | D · Potential for harm, one-off | The facility did not coordinate resident assessments with the state's pre-admission screening program for mental illness and intellectual disabilities, or failed to refer residents for the special services they need. |
| Nov 7, 2024 | D · Potential for harm, one-off | The facility did not provide the care needed to maintain or improve residents' movement and flexibility — such as range-of-motion exercises — leading to avoidable decline. |
| Nov 7, 2024 | D · Potential for harm, one-off | The facility did not provide appropriate care related to bladder and bowel needs — including care for residents who use catheters and steps to prevent urinary tract infections. |
| Nov 7, 2024 | D · Potential for harm, one-off | The facility used feeding tubes without a valid medical reason or the resident's agreement, or did not provide proper care to residents who have feeding tubes. |
| Nov 7, 2024 | D · Potential for harm, one-off | The facility used bed rails without first trying safer alternatives, or without assessing the resident's safety risk, discussing the risks and benefits with the resident or family, getting consent, and installing the rails correctly. |
| Nov 7, 2024 | D · Potential for harm, one-off | The facility did not try to gradually reduce doses of mood- and mind-altering medications or use non-drug approaches first, as required, or used 'as needed' psychiatric drugs without proper limits. |
| Nov 7, 2024 | D · Potential for harm, one-off | The facility did not label drugs according to professional standards or did not store them in locked compartments, with controlled drugs (medications with a high risk of misuse) kept under a separate lock. |
| Nov 7, 2024 | D · Potential for harm, one-off | The facility did not have a policy covering how food brought in by family and visitors is used and stored safely. |
| Nov 7, 2024 | D · Potential for harm, one-off | The facility did not arrange hospice services for a resident who needed them, or help the resident move to a facility that could arrange hospice. Hospice provides comfort-focused care for people nearing the end of life. |
| Nov 7, 2024 | D · Potential for harm, one-off | The facility did not have a working program to monitor how antibiotics are used. Tracking antibiotic use helps make sure these drugs are given only when needed and remain effective. |
| May 18, 2023 | E · Potential for harm, repeated | The facility's medication error rate was 5 percent or higher — meaning too many doses were given incorrectly, such as the wrong drug, dose, or time. |
| May 18, 2023 | E · Potential for harm, repeated | The facility did not serve food and drinks that were appetizing, attractive, and at a safe and pleasant temperature. |
| May 18, 2023 | E · Potential for harm, repeated | The facility did not have or follow an effective program to prevent and control infections — such as proper hand washing, cleaning, and isolation practices. This is the most commonly cited deficiency nationwide. |
| May 18, 2023 | D · Potential for harm, one-off | The facility did not provide treatment and care that follows the doctor's orders and matches the resident's own preferences and goals. |
| May 18, 2023 | D · Potential for harm, one-off | The facility did not keep residents free from significant medication errors — such as giving the wrong drug, the wrong dose, or missing a critical medication. |
| Mar 24, 2022 | E · Potential for harm, repeated | The facility did not provide a safe, clean, comfortable, and homelike environment, including safe support for residents' daily living needs. |
| Mar 24, 2022 | E · Potential for harm, repeated | The facility did not make sure its nurses and nurse aides had the skills and training needed to properly care for every resident. |
| Mar 24, 2022 | E · Potential for harm, repeated | The facility did not try to gradually reduce doses of mood- and mind-altering medications or use non-drug approaches first, as required, or used 'as needed' psychiatric drugs without proper limits. |
| Mar 24, 2022 | E · Potential for harm, repeated | The facility did not maintain an effective pest control program to prevent or deal with mice, insects, or other pests. |
| Mar 24, 2022 | E · Potential for harm, repeated | The facility did not train its staff on dementia care and on recognizing and reporting abuse, neglect, and exploitation. |
| Mar 24, 2022 | D · Potential for harm, one-off | The facility did not make sure residents were fully informed about their own health, care, and treatments in a way they could understand. |
| Mar 24, 2022 | D · Potential for harm, one-off | The facility did not arrange hospice services for a resident who needed them, or help the resident move to a facility that could arrange hospice. Hospice provides comfort-focused care for people nearing the end of life. |
Inspection trend by year
Citations from standard inspections increased between the last two inspection cycles (5 → 14).
| Year | Citations | Serious (G–L) | Worst severity that year |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 7 | 0 | E |
| 2023 | 5 | 0 | E |
| 2024 | 14 | 1 | G ▲ |
Counts reflect the current CMS public record (~3 inspection cycles plus complaint investigations); years with no surveys show no row. Inspection frequency varies, so compare severity as well as counts.
Fines and enforcement (last 3 years)
No fines or payment denials in the published 3-year window.
Nurse staffing (from payroll records, adjusted for how much care residents need)
| Measure | This facility | Colorado avg | U.S. avg | Where it stands |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total nurse staffing (hours per resident per day) | 4.52 | 3.89 | 3.95 | top 18% in Colorado; top 23% in the U.S. |
| Registered Nurse hours | 1.10 | 0.86 | 0.69 | top 20% in Colorado; top 12% in the U.S. |
| Weekend total nurse staffing | 4.02 | 3.44 | 3.50 | top 17% in Colorado; top 22% in the U.S. |
| Weekend RN hours (not acuity-adjusted) | 0.66 | 0.61 | 0.48 | top 34% in Colorado; top 18% in the U.S. |
| Total nursing staff turnover (%) | 48.3 | 47.1 | 45.8 | bottom 46% in Colorado; bottom 41% in the U.S. |
| RN turnover (%) | 42.9 | 44.6 | 42.9 | top 43% in Colorado; bottom 49% in the U.S. |
Hours are per resident per day, case-mix adjusted by CMS so facilities caring for sicker residents can be compared fairly (same basis as the CMS staffing star). "Top X%" means better than most facilities: more staffing hours, or lower turnover. Raw (unadjusted) reported hours: total 4.13, RN 1.01, weekend 3.67. Staffing rating: 4/5.
Self-reported quality measures
Note: these ratings are based on data the facility reports about itself to CMS. They are not independently verified by inspectors, and can look better than inspection findings. Give more weight to the inspection results above.
Quality measures rating: 5/5 · long-stay residents: 5/5 · short-stay residents: 5/5
Who owns this facility
For profit - Corporation
| Owner / manager | Type | Role | Stake | Since |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Arapahoe LTC, INC. | Organization | Direct Ownership Interest | NOT APPLICABLE | 08/31/2000 |
| Preston, Forrest | Individual | Direct Ownership Interest | NOT APPLICABLE | 11/08/1995 |
| Preston, Forrest | Individual | Indirect Ownership Interest | NOT APPLICABLE | 08/31/2000 |
| Arapahoe LTC Investors LLC | Organization | Operational/Managerial Control | NOT APPLICABLE | 06/08/1998 |
| Arapahoe LTC Investors LLC | Organization | ADP of the SNF | NOT APPLICABLE | 05/01/2002 |
| Arapahoe LTC, INC. | Organization | Operational/Managerial Control | NOT APPLICABLE | 08/31/2000 |
| Cross, Cindy | Individual | Corporate Officer | NOT APPLICABLE | 04/08/1998 |
| Dent, Sara | Individual | Managing Control - Governing Body | NOT APPLICABLE | 05/08/2021 |
| Dent, Sara | Individual | Operational/Managerial Control | NOT APPLICABLE | 05/08/2021 |
| Dent, Sara | Individual | ADP of the SNF | NOT APPLICABLE | 05/12/2026 |
| Fletcher, Todd | Individual | Corporate Director | NOT APPLICABLE | 05/01/2021 |
| Fletcher, Todd | Individual | Corporate Officer | NOT APPLICABLE | 11/02/2020 |
| Franco, Mark | Individual | Corporate Director | NOT APPLICABLE | 09/12/2025 |
| Gahm, Gregory | Individual | Operational/Managerial Control | NOT APPLICABLE | 02/14/2024 |
| Gahm, Gregory | Individual | ADP of the SNF | NOT APPLICABLE | 05/12/2026 |
| Gondwe, Lindizgani | Individual | Managing Control - Governing Body | NOT APPLICABLE | 07/10/2025 |
| Gondwe, Lindizgani | Individual | Operational/Managerial Control | NOT APPLICABLE | 07/10/2025 |
| Henry, Terry | Individual | Corporate Officer | NOT APPLICABLE | 08/16/1999 |
| Lay, Lisa | Individual | Corporate Director | NOT APPLICABLE | 04/24/2017 |
| Lay, Lisa | Individual | Corporate Officer | NOT APPLICABLE | 02/09/2018 |
Questions to ask on your visit
Generated from this facility's actual citation record — bring them to a tour and ask the administrator directly.
- "What is your falls rate, and what specific steps do you take to prevent falls and supervise residents at risk?"
- "What did your most recent kitchen inspection find, and can I see how food is stored and prepared?"
- "Who leads your infection prevention program, and how do you make sure staff follow practices like hand hygiene every day?"
- "What choices do residents have over their daily schedule, like meal times, bathing, and activities?"
- "How do you identify and arrange specialized services for residents with mental health conditions or disabilities?"
- "What do you do daily to keep residents moving, and how do you help residents at risk of losing mobility?"
- "How do you care for residents with incontinence or catheters, and what do you do to prevent urinary tract infections?"
- "How do you decide when a feeding tube is truly needed, and how do staff care for residents who have one?"
- "What is your current ratio of nursing staff to residents on day, evening, and weekend shifts?"
- "Can I see the results and plan of correction from your most recent state inspection?"
Nearby facilities (within 20 miles)
| Facility | Distance | City | Overall | Inspection | Flags |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Continuing Care at Wind Crest | 1.5 mi | Highlands Ranch, CO | ★★★★★ | 5/5 | |
| Littleton Care and Rehabilitation Center | 2.8 mi | Littleton, CO | ★★★★★ | 5/5 | |
| VI at Highlands Ranch Skilled Nursing | 3.1 mi | Highlands Ranch, CO | ★★★★★ | 5/5 | |
| Cherrelyn Healthcare Center | 3.1 mi | Littleton, CO | ★★★★☆ | 4/5 | |
| Suites at Someren Glen Care Center, the | 4.5 mi | Centennial, CO | ★★☆☆☆ | 2/5 | |
| Hallmark Nursing Center | 4.6 mi | Denver, CO | ★★★★★ | 4/5 | |
| Suites at Holly Creek Care Center, the | 5.1 mi | Centennial, CO | ★★★★★ | 4/5 | |
| Orchard Park Health Care Center | 5.3 mi | Littleton, CO | ★★★★☆ | 4/5 | |
| Wellsprings Care Center | 5.5 mi | Englewood, CO | ★★★☆☆ | 2/5 | abuse |
| Englewood Post Acute and Rehabilitation | 5.6 mi | Englewood, CO | ★★★★☆ | 4/5 | |
| Heights Care & Rehabilitation LLC | 6.0 mi | Denver, CO | ★★☆☆☆ | 1/5 | |
| Julia Temple Healthcare Center | 6.0 mi | Englewood, CO | ★★★☆☆ | 3/5 |
Compare this facility with the 3 closest →
Facility data as of CMS processing date 2026-08-01. CCN 065370.