Name: Inspectors: As virus spread in Iowa nursing home, infection-control rules were ignored - Iowa Capital Dispatch
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Inspectors: As virus spread in Iowa nursing home, infection-control rules were ignored - Iowa Capital Dispatch

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15:07News StoryIowa Department of Public Health has refused to disclose how many long-term care workers have died from COVID-19. (Photo by Getty Images)State inspection records are shedding new light on how COVID-19 spread throughout an eastern Iowa nursing home, infecting at least three-fourths of the residents.According to&nbsp; 18,634 Iowa nursing home residents have been infected with coronavirus, and 2,043 of them have died. (The Iowa Department of Public Health reports that only 1,729 Iowa nursing home residents have died of the virus.)The spread of the virus ramped up in Iowa this past fall, both in nursing homes and in the community at large. Inspection reports from the Iowa Department of Inspections and Appeals detail how regulatory violations contributed to the spread in one Iowa care facility, the Montrose Health Center in Lee County. The home currently stands accused of failing to mitigate the spread of COVID-19 last fall by placing residents who had tested positive and negative in the same room, even though at least eight vacant rooms were available.The home also is alleged to have let a worker who was known to be positive for COVID-19 to care for residents who had yet to contract the virus. The state agency also says the home failed to implement an effective screening process to slow the spread for the virus.By the time inspectors visited the facility in late October, 21 of the home’s 28 residents had tested positive for the deadly virus. The inspection reports do not indicate whether any of the residents died after contracting the virus.According to state records, the administrator of the home, Mallory Hymes, told inspectors that in mid-October, four nurses and 10 residents at the facility tested positive for COVID-19.Hymes told inspectors the facility had difficulty covering shifts and so she decided to let asymptomatic workers who were known to have the virus work with residents who had tested positive.&nbsp;Soon after, other staff began reporting symptoms of COVID-19 on the screening forms used by the facility. For those whose symptoms were deemed to be “legitimate,” a rapid test was performed and if the results were negative the employees were allowed to work.On Oct. 22, three nurses who worked at Montrose Health Center tested positive, including the scheduled day shift and overnight shift nurses. By then, 21 residents and nine aides or nurses had tested positive for COVID-19.To cover the home’s overnight shift, Hymes reportedly texted two employees and asked them to cover the shift. Both employees refused. Hymes then allowed another employee to work, although that individual had just tested positive for the virus.When inspectors asked Hymes why infected residents were sharing rooms with residents who were negative for the virus, she allegedly stated her “corporate office” indicated it was not necessary to separate them since the negative residents had already been “exposed” to the virus.The inspectors’ report indicates that data from the State Hygienic Laboratory shows that one resident of the home tested positive for the virus on Oct. 18, but continued to share a room with another resident for the next four days. On Oct. 25, the resident who had been negative tested positive for the virus.That same situation was repeated with three other sets of residents. In each case, a resident sharing a room with a COVID-positive resident subsequently tested positive for the virus.Inspectors also reviewed the COVID-19 screening forms used by the staff when entering the building to begin their shifts and found several instances in which workers reported numerous, serious symptoms of the virus but were allowed to continue working.A licensed practical nurse at the home told inspectors she completed a test on herself within 30 minutes of her arrival at work one day and it showed she was positive for the virus. She reportedly told inspectors she did not immediately notify anyone of the test result and continued to work the rest of the day. After she told her administrator of the test, she was formally approved to continue working.During the inspection at Montrose Health Center, a registered nurse allegedly told inspectors she had tested positive for the virus that morning and wondered whether it was acceptable for her to continue working in the home.State inspectors determined the care facility had placed its residents in “immediate jeopardy” — the formal designation for a serious violation that can result in the denial of federal Medicare and Medicaid funding. After the home took corrective action by separating positive residents from negative residents, the seriousness of the violation was downgraded by the Iowa Department of Inspections and Appeals.State records indicate DIA proposed, but did not impose, a $7,250 fine as a result of the infection-control violations. That state fine was held in suspension by DIA to let the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services consider whether it, instead, would impose a federal fine. CMS’ website indicates it has imposed no fines at all against the facility.The Iowa Capital Dispatch contacted Hymes and asked her about the violations, at which point the call was disconnected. She did not respond to subsequent calls.State and federal records indicate the home is owned by a for-profit company called Montrose Health Center Operations, an entity owned by Mark Holtkamp, a developer from Solon; and Kevin Kidwell, a Solon construction company executive. The facility is managed by the Inhance Corporation of Fort Madison, which is run by Wayne Marple of Keokuk. Marple could not be reached for comment.The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services’ states gives the Montrose Health Center its highest rating — five stars — but says the home was last inspected 11 months ago, and has no record of any violations stemming from complaints, neither of which is correct.Xby Clark Kauffman, January 15, 2021by Clark Kauffman, January 15, 2021State inspection records are shedding new light on how COVID-19 spread throughout an eastern Iowa nursing home, infecting at least three-fourths of the residents.According to&nbsp; 18,634 Iowa nursing home residents have been infected with coronavirus, and 2,043 of them have died. (The Iowa Department of Public Health reports that only 1,729 Iowa nursing home residents have died of the virus.)The spread of the virus ramped up in Iowa this past fall, both in nursing homes and in the community at large. Inspection reports from the Iowa Department of Inspections and Appeals detail how regulatory violations contributed to the spread in one Iowa care facility, the Montrose Health Center in Lee County. The home currently stands accused of failing to mitigate the spread of COVID-19 last fall by placing residents who had tested positive and negative in the same room, even though at least eight vacant rooms were available.The home also is alleged to have let a worker who was known to be positive for COVID-19 to care for residents who had yet to contract the virus. The state agency also says the home failed to implement an effective screening process to slow the spread for the virus.By the time inspectors visited the facility in late October, 21 of the home’s 28 residents had tested positive for the deadly virus. The inspection reports do not indicate whether any of the residents died after contracting the virus.According to state records, the administrator of the home, Mallory Hymes, told inspectors that in mid-October, four nurses and 10 residents at the facility tested positive for COVID-19.Hymes told inspectors the facility had difficulty covering shifts and so she decided to let asymptomatic workers who were known to have the virus work with residents who had tested positive.&nbsp;Soon after, other staff began reporting symptoms of COVID-19 on the screening forms used by the facility. For those whose symptoms were deemed to be “legitimate,” a rapid test was performed and if the results were negative the employees were allowed to work.On Oct. 22, three nurses who worked at Montrose Health Center tested positive, including the scheduled day shift and overnight shift nurses. By then, 21 residents and nine aides or nurses had tested positive for COVID-19.To cover the home’s overnight shift, Hymes reportedly texted two employees and asked them to cover the shift. Both employees refused. Hymes then allowed another employee to work, although that individual had just tested positive for the virus.When inspectors asked Hymes why infected residents were sharing rooms with residents who were negative for the virus, she allegedly stated her “corporate office” indicated it was not necessary to separate them since the negative residents had already been “exposed” to the virus.The inspectors’ report indicates that data from the State Hygienic Laboratory shows that one resident of the home tested positive for the virus on Oct. 18, but continued to share a room with another resident for the next four days. On Oct. 25, the resident who had been negative tested positive for the virus.That same situation was repeated with three other sets of residents. In each case, a resident sharing a room with a COVID-positive resident subsequently tested positive for the virus.Inspectors also reviewed the COVID-19 screening forms used by the staff when entering the building to begin their shifts and found several instances in which workers reported numerous, serious symptoms of the virus but were allowed to continue working.A licensed practical nurse at the home told inspectors she completed a test on herself within 30 minutes of her arrival at work one day and it showed she was positive for the virus. She reportedly told inspectors she did not immediately notify anyone of the test result and continued to work the rest of the day. After she told her administrator of the test, she was formally approved to continue working.During the inspection at Montrose Health Center, a registered nurse allegedly told inspectors she had tested positive for the virus that morning and wondered whether it was acceptable for her to continue working in the home.State inspectors determined the care facility had placed its residents in “immediate jeopardy” — the formal designation for a serious violation that can result in the denial of federal Medicare and Medicaid funding. After the home took corrective action by separating positive residents from negative residents, the seriousness of the violation was downgraded by the Iowa Department of Inspections and Appeals.State records indicate DIA proposed, but did not impose, a $7,250 fine as a result of the infection-control violations. That state fine was held in suspension by DIA to let the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services consider whether it, instead, would impose a federal fine. CMS’ website indicates it has imposed no fines at all against the facility.The Iowa Capital Dispatch contacted Hymes and asked her about the violations, at which point the call was disconnected. She did not respond to subsequent calls.State and federal records indicate the home is owned by a for-profit company called Montrose Health Center Operations, an entity owned by Mark Holtkamp, a developer from Solon; and Kevin Kidwell, a Solon construction company executive. The facility is managed by the Inhance Corporation of Fort Madison, which is run by Wayne Marple of Keokuk. Marple could not be reached for comment.The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services’ states gives the Montrose Health Center its highest rating — five stars — but says the home was last inspected 11 months ago, and has no record of any violations stemming from complaints, neither of which is correct.is part of States Newsroom, a network of news bureaus supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Iowa Capital Dispatch maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Kathie Obradovich for questions: . Follow Iowa Capital Dispatch on and .Copy to clipboard1RepublishOur stories may be republished online or in print under Creative Commons license CC BY-NC-ND 4.0. We ask that you edit only for style or to shorten, provide proper attribution and link to our web site. Please see our republishing guidelines for use of photos and graphics.

15:07News StoryIowa Department of Public Health has refused to disclose how many long-term care workers have died from COVID-19. (Photo by Getty Images)State inspection records are shedding new light on how COVID-19 spread throughout an eastern Iowa nursing home, infecting at least three-fourths of the residents.According to&nbsp; 18,634 Iowa nursing home residents have been infected with coronavirus, and 2,043 of them have died. (The Iowa Department of Public Health reports that only 1,729 Iowa nursing home residents have died of the virus.)The spread of the virus ramped up in Iowa this...

Inspectors: As virus spread in Iowa nursing home, infection-control rules were ignored - Iowa Capital Dispatch

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