Continuing Care in Volusia County: John Knox Village and DeLand Senior Care

What is a continuing care retirement community?

A continuing care retirement community, often called a life plan community, sells contracts that combine housing with a promise of future assisted living and nursing care, usually in exchange for an entrance fee and a monthly fee. In Florida any provider selling these contracts must hold a certificate of authority from the Office of Insurance Regulation under Chapter 651.

The care itself is licensed separately: assisted living and nursing units on a campus hold AHCA licenses and are inspected like any other facility.

Which providers are on OIR's list here?

Source: Florida Office of Insurance Regulation, CCRC facility map (Life and Health Financial Oversight, October 2025).

AHCA lists an assisted living license under John Knox Village of Central Florida's own name in Orange City (John Knox Village of Central Florida, Inc., 60 beds), and CMS flags Majestic Oaks in Orange City as a nursing home located in a continuing care retirement community; CMS's flag does not name the community, so ask the provider which care units are part of its campus.

Why so few on the coast?

Most retirees along the Volusia and Flagler coast own their homes or condominiums and age in place, buying care as they need it. Entrance-fee communities took hold in other parts of Florida, such as the Orlando area and parts of the Gulf Coast, but here the market moved toward rental assisted living instead.

For coastal families, choosing a continuing care contract usually means moving inland to West Volusia, a 30- to 45-minute drive from the beachside.

How should a contract be evaluated?

Ask which contract types are offered (life care, modified or fee-for-service), the entrance fee and refund plan for each, the monthly fee and its increase history over five years, where assisted living, memory care and nursing care will be provided and under which AHCA licenses, and whether there is a wait for care beds.

Florida gives a seven-day right to cancel after signing or paying, and refunds before move-in are protected. Have an independent elder law attorney or financial adviser review the contract, and ask the provider for its annual disclosure statement.

How does a continuing care contract compare with paying as you go?

The central question is risk. With rental assisted living, a resident pays only for the housing and care used each month, but faces whatever price increases and care-level charges come later, and may need to move if needs exceed the building's license. With a life care contract, the resident pays a large entrance fee up front in exchange for more predictable costs and a guaranteed place in the community's assisted living or nursing care later.

Which approach costs less over a lifetime depends on how long the resident lives, how much care is eventually needed and how the contract handles refunds. A healthy 75-year-old who never needs much care may pay more under a life care contract than under pay-as-you-go; someone who later needs years of nursing care may pay far less. Spreadsheets help, but the honest answer is that nobody knows which path a particular person will take.

That is why the financial strength of the provider matters so much. A contract is only as good as the organization's ability to keep its promises decades from now, which is the reason Florida puts these providers under the Office of Insurance Regulation rather than treating them as ordinary landlords.

Before visiting either West Volusia provider, write down the questions that matter most to your family: whether a spouse can join later, what happens if savings run low after move-in, and whether memory care is on the campus. Bring the same list to both, and compare the written answers side by side.

Who oversees these providers?

OIR reviews annual reports and minimum liquid reserves, approves contract forms, and can require corrective action or supervision if a provider struggles financially. Residents can reach OIR's CCRC staff at 850-413-3153. Care complaints go to AHCA (1-888-419-3456).

See our guides to contracts and refunds and OIR oversight.