Fourteen nursing homes across Arizona will receive quality improvement grants ranging from $9,700 to $30,000.

Announced today in conjunction with Governor Janet Napolitano's Conference on Aging, the grants "will further improve the quality of care provided in Arizona nursing homes," said Susan Gerard, Director of the Arizona Department of Health Services.

Governor Napolitano directed the quality improvement effort last year in an Executive Order, "Ensuring Quality in Long Term Care" (2007-01). It directs ADHS and other agencies to focus on quality issues in nursing homes.

The grants will be awarded to:

• Arizona Department of Veterans' Services, State Veterans' Home - $30,000
• Desert Highlands Care Center, Kingman - $24,092
• RidgeCrest Healthcare, Phoenix - $28,809
• Glencroft Care Center, Glendale - $9,701
• Beatitudes Campus Health Care Center, Phoenix - $30,000
• Christian Care Nursing Center, Phoenix - $20,325
• LaLoma Care Center, Litchfield Park - $27,900
• Life Care Center of North Glendale - $29,108
• Good Shepherd Villa, Mesa - $29,594
• Mountain View Manor, Prescott - $30,000
• Royal Oaks Health Care Center, Sun City - $30,000
• Sierra Winds Retirement Community, Peoria - $29,316
• Cook Healthcare Center, Youngtown - $20,594
• Baptist Village, Sunridge Healthcare Center, Surprise - $20,594

ADHS received $400,000 from the state's Nursing Care Revolving Fund last year to distribute through grants to facilities that have had past deficiencies. To qualify, nursing homes had to submit proposals for projects in the areas of pain management, falls, incontinence, pressure ulcers, restraints and psychotropic medications.