The Iowa Nursing Facilities, where residents were killed, is cited by the state for rodent invasions, inadequate staff and employment of uncertified nurse aides.
The Iowa State Department of Inspection has proposed a $8,250 state fine for CORCHA HEALTHCARE in Lake City, but it was held during the suspension.
With the state penalty suspended, the Federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services are expected to determine whether the federal fine is justified.
According to Dial, the Lake City home failed to provide proper supervision for residents to ensure timely intervention on December 4, 2024, when residents died of choking and eating. . The 46 residential home is also said to have failed to ensure that properly trained staff were on hand to oversee and feed residents at risk of choking.
A male resident at his home was eating dinner in the support area on December 4, 2024, according to state inspectors. Tenderloin sandwich. At the time, she and the two residents were the only people in the support area. The non-certified aide “didn't do Heimrich,” the inspector later reported. The transceiver she had failed at work, the inspector allegedly claimed, so she cried out for help.
A meal aide responded, leaving the room and found someone else to help the choking residents. The non-certified aide was subsequently “slapd” on the resident's back, but without success, the inspector reported, the inspector alleged. Three minutes later, the man's lips turned blue, his teeth clenched, and a nurse arrived in the area, allowing staff to remove a small bread from the residents' airways.
An ambulance arrives and transports the man to the hospital, where he is diagnosed with suction pneumonia, indicating that he has refluxed food in both lungs. This man was given terminal care and died within four hours. The cause of death was acute respiratory failure and cardiac arrest caused by a choking incident.
The state inspector later reportedly said that although he was not certified as a nurse's aide, the administrator “willingly give him the idea of being an aide” with the intention of arranging a skill test. We interviewed an unauthorized aide. The aide allegedly told the inspector that she had never been certified by CPR but she knew how to do it and how to do it.
Employment records show that from 2021 to July 2024, uncertified aides worked in restaurants serving food. In late August 2024, she was hired at another care facility where she worked as a “CNA” for four weeks before applying for work at Accura, anticipating that she would be certified for testing.
Under Iowa law, care facilities can employ full-time, non-certified nurse aides for up to four months. To work with that ability for more than four months, you must be trained, certified or otherwise considered competent.
Inspectors alleged that the non-certified aides involved in the choking incident had not completed training and competency assessments or had not worked full-time within the state-approved training program, if necessary.
Accura Chain owes taxpayers unpaid fees
According to the state's findings, the Vice President of Accura was “administrator and nurse manager and nurse educator,” and licensed nurses or certified nursing. “We have educated nurse managers and nurses,” according to the state testing report, regarding the need to ensure that teachers' aides are used to support residents during meals.
As of January 7, 2025, there were no longer any non-certified aides working at the facility, the inspector reported. Additionally, state records show that managers have been educated staff about the need to see what Walkie Talkies they use to communicate with each other and answer call lights.
The house was cited for inadequate pest control, as it failed to employ sufficient staff, and mice have been reported in nine separate rooms in the building.
One resident opened the department drawer and reported that he found a mouse sitting on his underwear. The same resident reported that she later found a mouse stuck to a trap of glue in her room, inspectors said.
The nurse's aide reportedly said that the house had had mouse invasions where feces were found in various drawers and cabinets, and the problem was not improving. A licensed practical nurse said the issue “had been going on for a while,” the inspector reported.
“Mouse signs were reported and immediately took action when they hired professional pest control services and effectively eradicated concerns,” Lisa Toti, president of Forcea Healthcare LLC, said in a statement written Tuesday. “He said in writing.
Last fall, state officials reported that 19 of Accara Healthcare care facilities were on payment plans in the state due to the fact that taxpayers owed a total of $4 million outstanding fees.
Campaign Finance records show that since 2021, TOTI has made $36,000 in political donations in Iowa. Since 2015, Accula CEO Ted Leneave has personally donated more than $239,000 to the Iowa GOP campaign and the political action committee of the industry's leading lobbying organization.
According to CMS data, the Accura chain has been hit with a fine of more than $1.1 million for violations of quality of care that puts older residents at risk, with regulators saying at least 11 Accura facilities Medicaid payments have been suspended.
