Richmond Nursing Home Terminated by Medicare

Nursing homes are heavily regulated and for good reason.  Residents are dependent on the staff for their activities of daily living.  The regulations require nursing homes to prevent the development of pressure ulcers, avoid medication errors, provide for the dignity and well-being of the residents, etc.  Nursing homes are typically subject to unannounced inspections about once per year.  If there are violations the nursing home is required to submit a plan of correction.  It is a rare day that Medicare terminates a nursing home, so it says a lot that Medicare has terminated Envoy of Stratford Hills.  It is an extreme step because it means patients need to find new nursing homes and nursing home beds are often hard to find.  

What led to Envoy's termination?  Over a course of 6 months, Envoy of Stratford Hills was inspected 4 times and each time there were numerous violations of the federal nursing home regulations. According to news reports on Jan. 8, 2015, state inspections found that Envoy was "not in substantial compliance" with the federal regulations for nursing homes.  None of the deficients resulted in actual hard to residents, but they had the potential to harm residents. Presumably Envoy of Stratford Hills submitted a plan of correction.  The inspectors returned in March and found 10 deficients remained uncorrected from the January inspection and there were 10 new deficiencies.  The inspectors returned again on April 30 and 10 deficiencies remained uncorrected and there was a new deficiency.  If that wasn't enough, the inspectors returned in June and found 5 deficiencies that remained uncorrected and there was again a new deficiency. 

What happens from here?  Virginia Medicaid will work with residents who have to move out of the facility.  Envoy has 60 days to appeal the decision.  For more information here is a link to the Richmond Times Dispatch article which this blog post is based upon.