nursing homes
Iowa nurse accused of running an illegal, unlicensed assisted living facility
A central Iowa nurse is accused of attempting to exploit a potential gap in state regulation by running an illegal, unlicensed care facility in Des Moines. The Iowa Department of Inspections and Appeals and the City of Des Moines are suing Sutton Senior Home, a corporation run by Anne Porter, a registered nurse from Ankeny. […]
Staff vaccination rates in Iowa nursing homes as low as 47%, despite deaths
Even in Iowa nursing homes where a half-dozen residents or more have died of COVID-19, the percentage of workers who have been vaccinated against the virus is as low as 47%, newly disclosed records show. Although state public health officials have said they’ve never collected data on the staff vaccination rates in privately run nursing […]
Judge finds nursing home resident was illegally dumped in hospital E.R.
The agency that oversees nursing homes in Iowa has reversed a judge’s finding that an Iowa nursing home was unjustified in evicting a resident by dumping the man at a hospital and leaving him homeless during the COVID-19 pandemic. The Department of Inspections and Appeals found, however, the eviction was carried out without adequate notice. […]
Fort Dodge nurse is on abuse registry, but keeps her license and faces no criminal charges
An Iowa nurse who is on the state registry of abusers for allegedly stealing patient medications in 2019 was never criminally charged in the matter and her nursing license remains in good standing with the state. State records indicate that in August 2019, the husband of Sheila Freeman, a Fort Dodge woman, was mowing the […]
‘Horrific’ guilt: Nurse asked to resign to save her patients from neglect
A Christian nursing home in eastern Iowa allegedly coerced one of its nurses to resign, claiming patients were suffering from neglect due to her use of medical leave. In 2017, Licensed Practical Nurse Mary McGee began working for Christian Retirement Service and its Iowa City nursing home, the Oaknoll Retirement Residence. She continued to work […]
Iowa families can’t sue the state’s largest nursing home chain
Three months after 67-year-old James Asmus was admitted to the Southern Hills Specialty Care nursing home in Osceola, he was dead. State records indicate that within hours of being admitted to the home in September 2018, he sustained a broken hip in a fall. Immobilized by the resulting surgery, he soon developed pressure sores and […]
Even before COVID-19, U.S. nursing homes were filling empty beds with psychiatric patients
One year ago, a nursing home in Kirkland, Washington, became an early battleground for the U.S. coronavirus outbreak. The disease has since decimated nursing home populations – more than one-third of the COVID-19-related deaths in the U.S. have been nursing home residents and staff. Virtually unnoticed is what has followed: In some nursing homes, a […]
Reynolds says CVS, Walgreens not moving fast enough to immunize nursing homes
Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds said she’s “not happy” with the speed of COVID-19 immunizations in the state’s long-term care facilities. During a meeting with reporters on Thursday, she acknowledged the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s partnership with CVS and Walgreens to immunize Iowans in nursing homes isn’t moving quickly enough. Reynolds said she is participating […]
Why nursing home aides exposed to COVID-19 aren’t taking sick leave
The COVID-19 pandemic has devastated America’s nursing homes, but the reasons aren’t as simple as people might think. To understand how nursing homes became the source of over one-third of U.S. COVID-19 deaths, you have to look beyond just the vulnerability of the residents and examine how nursing homes pay and manage their employees. The […]
More than 100 Iowa nursing homes report COVID-19 outbreaks
More than 100 long-term care centers in Iowa have active COVID-19 outbreaks with nearly 3,000 residents and staff infected as of Tuesday morning, the Iowa Department of Public Health reported. The 102 current outbreaks represent an increase of nearly 22% over the 80 outbreaks reported Nov. 2. A total of 900 long-term care residents with […]
Iowa’s nursing homes have recorded 4,096 COVID-19 infections
More than 4,000 people living or working in Iowa nursing homes have been infected with coronavirus during the 2020 pandemic, newly disclosed state records show. The data from the Iowa Department of Public Health shows that as of last week, 4,096 nursing home residents and staff members have been infected with COVID-19. Those infections are […]
COVID-19 outbreaks in Iowa nursing homes climb 22 percent in 24 hours
With the White House Coronavirus Task Force continuing to call for a statewide face-mask mandate to protect Iowa’s vulnerable populations, the number of reported COVID-19 outbreaks in Iowa nursing homes has increased 22% in the past 24 hours. According to data from the Iowa Department of Public Health, between Thursday morning and Friday morning the […]