F309: Provide necessary care and services to maintain or improve the highest well being of each resident
F309 is one of the federal requirements every Medicare and Medicaid certified nursing home must meet. CMS describes it as: Provide necessary care and services to maintain or improve the highest well being of each resident .
It sits in CMS's quality of life and care category.
CMS Health Deficiencies file, data as of September 1, 2026. The files hold each home's last three standard inspections and three years of complaint visits.
How seriously inspectors rate it
Every citation gets a letter for how much harm inspectors found and how many residents it touched (how to read the letters). 0.0% of F309 citations came from a complaint visit rather than a routine inspection.
By letter: D 3, E 2, G 1.
What inspectors wrote
Three recent F309 citations from different states, quoted from the inspectors' statements of deficiencies (CMS form 2567). Names are removed by CMS.
Inspectors wrote, November 9, 2017, scope and severity DBased on staff interview, facility documentation review, and clinical record review, the facility staff failed to provide the highest practicable well-being for Resident #7. The facility staff failed to assure that physician ordered blood glucose testing was performed and documented, and insulin given, if necessary, for Resident #7.
Colonial Heights Rehabilitation and Nursing Center, Colonial Heights, VA
Most recent F309 citations at the harm or jeopardy level
Newest first, all 1 in the current files. Each home's page shows the citation in full context, with its correction status.
| Inspection | Home | Town | Letter | Visit |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| March 23, 2017 | Potomac Falls Health & Rehab Center | Sterling, VA | G | Standard |
Most recent F309 citations
| Inspection | Home | Town | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| November 9, 2017 | Nassawadox Rehabilitation and Nursing | Nassawadox, VA | D |
| November 9, 2017 | Colonial Heights Rehabilitation and Nursing Center | Colonial Heights, VA | D |
| August 30, 2017 | August Healthcare at Leewood | Annandale, VA | D |
| August 17, 2017 | Norfolk Health Care Center | Norfolk, VA | E |
| July 13, 2017 | Portsmouth Health and Rehab | Portsmouth, VA | E |
| March 23, 2017 | Potomac Falls Health & Rehab Center | Sterling, VA | G |
F309 citations by state
Counts depend on how many homes a state has and how often its inspectors visit, so a larger number is not by itself a worse record.
| State | Citations |
|---|---|
| Virginia | 6 |
By inspection year: 2017 6.
Common questions
- What is F309 in a nursing home inspection?
- F309 is the federal requirement to "provide necessary care and services to maintain or improve the highest well being of each resident ". CMS files it under quality of life and care. A home cited under F309 did not meet that requirement at the inspection.
- How often is F309 cited?
- The CMS files as of September 1, 2026 list 6 F309 citations at 6 nursing homes, 0 of them in the 12 months to that date. 16.7% were rated as actual harm or immediate jeopardy.
- Is a F309 citation serious?
- It depends on the letter. Most F309 citations (83.3%) were rated as potential for more than minimal harm, D to F. None in the current files is at the immediate jeopardy level.
The interpretive guidance inspectors use for each F-tag is CMS's State Operations Manual, Appendix PP. NursingHomeClear reports the citations as CMS records them and is not affiliated with CMS. All F-tags · Methodology