Former administrator of Coralville nursing home charged with incompetence, negligence

The Iowa Board of Nursing Home Administrators has charged the former administrator of Windmill Manor nursing home in Coralville with professional incompetence, negligence and violating a regulation after two residents in the dementia unit engaged in sexual conduct with each other twice.

Steve Drobot, who was administrator for the nursing home in Coralville from December 2008 to March 2010, is scheduled for a disciplinary hearing on April 12 before the state's nursing home administrators' board in Des Moines.

At that hearing, he'll be allowed to address the allegations against him, which include the sexual conduct involving two dementia residents under his care, according to the complaint.

The incidents occurred in November and December of 2009 and, according to the complaint, both incidents were reported to Drobot, who didn't handle them in accord with facility policies and procedures.

Neither incident was reported to the Department of Inspection and Appeals, and the facility's director falsified records regarding the November incident. The December incident, which involved sexual intercourse, was not documented in resident records, the complaint states.

The director of nursing also warned staff not to report the incidents, according to the complaint.

The complaint alleges that Drobot made family members watch one of the dementia residents in the evening in response to the December incident, and the board alleges that neither resident was adequately monitored after the sexual conduct.

According to the complaint, one of the residents was “abruptly discharged” in March 2010 without proper notice, and family members were asked to come care for the resident pending discharge because “the facility did not have adequate staff.”

In a separate case involving Windmill Manor, former director of nursing Karen Etter was charged with attempting to impede or interfere with a state representative after employees said Etter told them in May 2009 that if they reported issues to the state before telling her first, they would be fired.

According to state records, a male resident in 2008 was found having sex with a female resident who had Alzheimer's disease. State regulators said the woman could not have consented to sex because of her illness.

A nurse at Windmill Manor said Etter made threats to the staff in May 2009.

A Johnson County magistrate in August 2010 found Etter not guilty, stating in her written ruling that there was no pending investigation of the nursing home when Etter threatened to fire the employees.