5 more Iowa nursing homes added to list of nation’s worst care facilities

Five Iowa nursing homes have been added to a federal list of the nation’s worst care facilities.

One of the five is a Sioux City home that, after being cited for violations tied to four resident deaths, is now in the process of voluntarily closing.

The five homes are deemed eligible for inclusion on the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services’ national list of “special-focus facilities.” They join five other Iowa care facilities already deemed eligible for inclusion on the periodic list of nursing homes that have recurring quality-of-care problems.

The five Iowa homes that have been added to the list since April are Embassy Rehab and Care Center of Sergeant Bluff; Aspire of Gowrie; Countryside Health Care Center of Sioux City; Dunlap Specialty Care Center; and Iowa City Rehab & Health Care.

They join five other Iowa facilities long considered eligible for special-focus status: Cedar Falls Health Care Center, which has been on the eligibility list for five months; Genesis Senior Living of Des Moines, which has spent 14 months on the list; Griswold Rehabilitation & Health Care Center, which has spent 10 months on the list; New London Specialty Care, which has spent seven months on the list; and Northern Mahaska Specialty Care of Oskaloosa, which has spent 10 months on the list.

Iowa has two other care facilities that are officially designated as special-focus facilities and are operating under additional scrutiny from regulators: Arbor Court of Mount Pleasant and Aspire of Primghar.

The five Iowa homes recently deemed eligible for inclusion on the list have a history of regulatory issues:

Embassy Rehab and Care Center of Sergeant Bluff: This 60-bed facility has a one-star rating from CMS for both inspection results and for quality measures. The administrator is Billijean Moerman. In May, state inspectors visited the facility in response to four complaints, all of which were substantiated, and cited the facility for 40 state and federal violations, an unusually high number.

Among the violations: A resident complained that when he told a male aide the water in the shower was too hot, the aide turned the water to ice cold. The resident responded by telling the Filipino aide to “go back to the jungle,” at which point the aide allegedly placed his hand over the resident’s mouth and nose while pressing the resident’s neck down until the water from the shower went up the resident’s nose. The resident said he tried to yell for help but could not.

CMS has fined the facility twice since 2020, for a total of $93,712. It is owned by a limited liability corporation that, according to CMS, operates under the name Kismet Sux. The individuals who have a significant ownership stake in the business include Cammy, Mary and Travis Lantis.

Aspire of Gowrie: This 46-bed facility has a one-star rating from CMS for inspection results, staffing levels and quality measures. The administrator is Rachael Marshall. So far this year, the home has been cited for 27 state and federal violations.

Last December, the home was cited for mistakenly placing fingernail glue, rather than medication, in a resident’s eye. CMS has fined the facility seven times since June 2021, for a total of $154,112. The home is owned by limited liability corporation called Blackhawk Healthcare, which is owned entirely by Bruce Wertheim.

Countryside Health Care Center of Sioux City: This 101-bed facility has a one-star rating from CMS for both inspection results and for quality measures. The administrator is Jackie Loghry Pirner. Since December 2020, the home has been cited for violations related to four resident deaths.

This year, the home was cited for 39 state and federal violations. When inspectors visited the home in April, there was a backlog of 19 complaints awaiting investigation by the state. Earlier this month, the facility announced it would be closing. CMS has fined the facility 14 times since September 2020, for a total of $98,405. It is owned by a limited liability corporation, 6120 Morningside Avenue Propco.

Dunlap Specialty Care Center: This 57-bed facility has a one-star rating from CMS for inspection results and a two-star rating for staffing levels. The administrator is Paul Hubbeling. In May, inspectors cited the home for 17 violations. CMS has fined the facility four times since November 2020, for a total of $263,422. It is owned and operated by Care Initiatives, a West Des Moines nonprofit run by Michael Beal, who collected $608,638 in compensation in 2021, according to tax records.

Iowa City Rehab & Health Care: This 89-bed facility has a one-star rating from CMS for both inspection results and staffing levels. The administrator is Brandy Calvelage. In May, inspectors cited the home for 21 federal violations. CMS has fined the facility twice since May 2022, for a total of $20,040. It is owned by a limited liability company, Premier Estates, which is owned by Arboreta Healthcare, Greenside Healthcare Properties and Fairway Healthcare Properties.

Two Iowa facilities subject to added oversight

Unlike the 10 Iowa facilities on the “eligible” list, the two Iowa care facilities officially designated as special-focus facilities are each operating under additional regulatory oversight.

Arbor Court in Mount Pleasant is a 62-bed, for-profit home owned by Judah Bienstock and Arbor Court Investments. It has a one-star rating from CMS for both health-inspection results and quality-of-care measures. The federal government has fined the home seven times in the past three years. Since September 2021, those fines have totaled $272,024.

Last December, the home was cited for a resident’s death after the woman was given an antibiotic and an anticoagulant medication that were contraindicated. The woman was taken to a hospital, diagnosed with a gastrointestinal bleed, and died.

In January 2022, the state cited Arbor Court after a resident of the home, Donna Lee Huffaker, fell to her death from a mechanical device that was being used to transfer her in and out of bed.

Aspire of Primghar is a 40-bed, for-profit home owned by Bruce Wertheim and Black Hawk Healthcare. It has a one-star rating from CMS for both health-inspection results and staffing levels. The federal government has fined the home nine times in the past three years, with the penalties totaling $265,168.

Last year, Aspire of Primghar was cited for 26 violations of federal nursing home regulations related to a wide variety of issues, including abuse and neglect, failure to meet professional standards, the overall quality of care, mistreatment of pressure sores, insufficient physician visits, the use of unnecessary psychotropic drugs, medication errors, inadequate infection control and other violations.

This article first appeared in the Iowa Capital Dispatch.