TAMPA - It's taken nearly three years, but a state panel has nominated seven nursing homes to receive a Gold Seal and market themselves as the best in Florida.

The panel sent the names to the governor's office last week and expects a quick acceptance. The homes make up 1 percent of the roughly 700 nursing homes in Florida. "We wanted this to be hard to get so that it would mean something," said Martie Daemy, one of the 13 panelists and interim head of the state Long-term Care Ombudsman program.

Three of the seven homes are in the Tampa Bay area: John Knox Village in Tampa, Florida Presbyterian Homes in Lakeland, and Menorah Manor in St. Petersburg. The others are The Chateau at Moorings Park, Naples; Memorial Manor, Pembroke Pines; River Garden Hebrew Home for the Aged, Jacksonville; and The Pavilion for Health Care, Penney Farms.

All the homes are nonprofit. Nearly all have a religious affiliation and are part of larger retirement communities. This gives them advantages such as access to charitable contributions and committed volunteers.

But much of what these homes do could be replicated in any nursing home, said panelist Barbara Hengstebeck of the Coalition to Protect America's Elders. "It's all about putting the resident first, rather than making the resident fit into some institutional model," she said. Daemy, who visited John Knox for the assessment, said she was struck by the involvement of the community, a characteristic found in all the Gold Seal nominees. Through one John Knox program, artist Michelle Cleveland visits at least once a week and almost always has the help of young volunteers. Meeting The Criteria

The Gold Seal panel took two years refining the criteria for the program after the Legislature created it in 1999. To qualify, a home must have a stable work force, for instance, and fall in the top 25 percent in a state quality-of-care ranking.

The award is given for two years, so winners have to reapply to retain it.

Financial requirements excluded 95 percent of Florida's facilities, said Ed Towey, spokesman for the Florida Health Care Association. Dozens were part of companies in bankruptcy, though most have resolved their problems or are in the final stages.

Other homes, particularly some small, independent ones, were passed over because they didn't submit independently audited financial statements, which can cost thousands of dollars.

The panel ended up getting 12 applications, five of which failed to meet requirements. Panel members visited the remaining seven.

At Menorah Manor, Richard Tucker, a University of Central Florida professor, saw what he described as a professional, committed staff and a well- oiled volunteer organization.

"It wasn't the kind of thing you could manufacture for a visit," he said.

He was impressed by efforts to prevent falls. Each staff member is trained to watch out for the most vulnerable residents. It also has a full-time chaplain, a full-time educator and an active medical director.

At John Knox, Daemy was most impressed by the staff's longevity. They know the residents well, she said.

John Knox got a jolt this year when the federal government released care data on nursing homes in Florida and five other states. They showed above- average numbers of John Knox residents had bedsores and were in restraints, despite favorable state marks in both categories.

Those numbers were high because the home accepts residents whom others might reject because of their illnesses, administrator Suresh Pai said.

The home wasn't free of problems, Daemy said. "But how they dealt with them made the difference. They communicated with the families. "

The seven homes had different practices. But panel members noted a common thread. The workers they met all wanted residents to feel they were at home, not in a medical institution.

Building a committed crew can be easier when a home isn't subject to profit-making pressures, Hengstebeck said. But increased Medicaid funding from the Legislature since last year has given at least $200 million to nursing homes for new staff.

"It's not the money. It's the philosophy," Hengstebeck said.

Marshall Seiden, chief executive officer of Menorah Manor, said the money is important, although the key is the culture of the organization.

"A focus on the bottom line or on minimum standards cannot result in excellence," he said. It takes "a pervasive sense of mission. "