Related video above: Iowa lawmakers to consider bill allowing cameras in nursing home rooms. The fines represent penalties imposed by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, and typically stem from quality-of-care violations reported by state inspectors.
Although CMS publicly reports the fines imposed against all Medicare-certified nursing facilities, the agency does not disclose whether such fines have actually been paid. Who are they hiding this information from? The public has a right to know what is going on. According to the CMS data , the Iowa nursing homes that in fiscal year compiled the highest level of federal fines were:. Since , the home has been cited for at least two resident deaths. In one case, a woman was given an antibiotic and an anticoagulant medication that were contraindicated, resulting in a fatal gastrointestinal bleed, according to state records.
In another case, state inspectors reported, a resident fell to her death from a mechanical device that was being used to transfer her in and out of bed. By the time inspectors visited in September , 34 complaints had triggered several investigations. On the morning of Sept. The man was eventually admitted to a hospital where he suffered stroke caused by dangerously high blood pressure, according to state records. Since October , the home has been cited by the state for at least quality-of-care violations and been the focus of 26 complaints.
On four occasions it has been cited for failing to provide a safe environment for residents. Two of the Iowa care facilities that racked up the highest number of federal penalties in the current fiscal year, without regard to the total dollar amounts, are Valley View Community and Lakeside Lutheran Home.
The data reported by CMS makes it difficult to identify the Iowa nursing home chains that have the worst record of compliance with regulations. Facilities that are clearly part of a multifacility chain, operating under common ownership, are incorrectly reported as having no affiliation with any chains. However, reports state that neither facility has any affiliation with a nursing home chain.
