The Gardens at DePugh Nursing Center, a longtime Winter Park institution known for its five-star quality rating, will close in December after nearly seven decades of serving older residents.

The closure marks the end of one of only about 60 nursing homes in Florida to hold the top federal rating. Board Chairman Richard Baldwin said the news has been heartbreaking for residents and staff. Latest Forecast

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“They’re brokenhearted,” Baldwin said. “You gotta understand most of our residents are permanent residents.”

The center opened in 1956, named in honor of Mary Lee DePugh, who envisioned health care access for the historically Black west side of Winter Park during the Jim Crow era. Although she died in 1949, the facility fulfilled her

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