The nursing home industry already had too much political power in Iowa before Terry Branstad returned to the governor’s office. Since late 2010, Branstad has repeatedly demonstrated that he prefers a more lax inspection regime for residential care facilities, with fewer nursing home inspectors than state lawmakers are willing to fund.
But Branstad may have hit a new low this month, according to a story by Clark Kauffman in Monday’s Des Moines Register. Kauffman has reported extensively on substandard care in Iowa nursing homes. Following up on this year’s winners of the “Governor’s Award for Quality Care in Health Care Facilities,” Kauffman learned that one of the three honored facilities “was cited by inspectors seven weeks earlier for widespread unsanitary conditions and failure to meet residents’ nutritional needs.”
At this writing, I could not find the July 9 press release announcing the awards on the governor’s official news feed. I found it on the Department of Inspections and Appeals website and posted the full text after the jump.
I also enclosed excerpts from Kauffman’s report, but you should click through to read every disgusting detail about the Woodland Terrace in Waverly (Bremer County). I challenge Branstad or Lieutenant Governor Kim Reynolds to move any of their own beloved relatives to a home with such low standards of hygiene. It’s bad enough that Woodland Terrace wasn’t fined after the conditions inspectors found when they visited in May. To honor that facility is outrageous.
Regarding the other two award-winners, Kauffman noted that Prairie View Home in Sanborn did not have any violations during its most recent inspection, but Friendship Haven in Fort Dodge was cited in late 2013 “for failure to provide adequate incontinence care for residents; failure to adequately treat bedsores; and failure to keep food at the proper temperature before serving.”
From the Des Moines Register’s July 28 report headlined, “Lauded nursing home drew citations 7 weeks earlier”:
According to state records, an inspection of Woodland Terrace’s kitchen in early May revealed “highly soiled floors” littered with dust, food particles, paint chips, cookies, jelly and other debris. One area of the kitchen floor had three inches of an unidentified “dried substance,” and kitchen carts were described as highly soiled with debris and food.
Inspectors said the food preparation counter was visibly soiled; window screens were highly soiled; a steam table was crusted with food and debris; plastic tubs used to store newly washed utensils contained a large amount of debris; ready-to-use appliances were soiled with dried pancake batter from meals served four days earlier; and a walk-in cooler was littered with shredded cheese, onion peels and debris.
Kitchen workers told inspectors they had no cleaning duties and no time to clean the area. […]
Inspectors reviewed five residents’ diets and determined none had received the food they were supposed to be served according to their care plans. […] Inspectors also determined that prior to being served, the food was not being kept at the recommended minimum temperature, with ground meat served at only 118 degrees.
No fines were imposed as a result of the inspectors’ findings. Woodland Terrace has submitted a plan of correction outlining the steps taken to address the problems. […]
[In 2013], inspectors also cited the home for inadequate infection control, saying that as they watched, the facility staff repeatedly failed to sanitize the glucose meter used to test residents’ blood-sugar levels.
THREE LONG-TERM CARE FACILITIES RECEIVE GOVERNOR’S QUALITY AWARD
DES MOINES, IOWA (July 9, 2014) – Iowa Governor Terry Branstad today announced that three long-term care facilities have been selected to receive a 2014 Governor’s Award for Quality Care in Health Care Facilities. The facilities were nominated by residents and their family members who, on a daily basis, observe first-hand the services and level of care provided to the residents, Governor Branstad said.
Selected to receive a 2014 Governor’s Quality Award were Friendship Haven, a 155-bed nursing facility in Fort Dodge, Prairie View Home, a 73-bed nursing facility in Sanborn, and Woodland Terrace, a 126-bed nursing facility in Waverly. In making the announcement, Governor Branstad noted that Woodland Terrace is a two-time Award winning facility, having previously won in 2004.
“The fact that the nominator’s loved one has resided in the Waverly facility for more than 13 years speaks volumes about the care provided by the Woodland Terrace staff,” Lt. Governor Kim Reynolds said. “While conducting an onsite evaluation of the facility’s nomination, staff from the Iowa Department of Inspections and Appeals were approached by numerous residents who praised the dedicated personnel and caring environment at the nursing home,” she added.
“The Bartels Lutheran Retirement Community in Waverly has 60 years of providing the highest in quality physical settings, services, and care for its residents,” the nominator wrote. The Community provides a full-range of living needs from independent apartments and homes, assisted living, skilled nursing and rehabilitation, nursing, memory care, and in-home care. “Residents are able to remain as community members – to be part of family traditions and community traditions,” the nominator added.
One of the services provided by the Woodland Terrace facility – and dear to the heart of the nominator – was the implementation of a pet therapy program. “Bartels is now home to Lucy Lola Lorraine, a very lovable and highly-trained black Labrador. Lucy has grown very accustomed to approaching people in wheelchairs, on crutches, and in hospital beds and has the ability to help calm and soothe agitated individuals while lifting the spirits of those who might be sad or lonely,” the nominator explained.
The pet therapy program is just one example of Bartel’s ever-changing environment as it responds and adapts to the needs and desires of the residents, and, thus, “offering them the best of physical, emotional, and spiritual care.”
The second Award-winning facility – the Simpson Health Center – is one of several facilities located on Friendship Haven’s 60-acre campus in Fort Dodge. The campus features footpaths, gardens, and shady groves, where residents, tenants, and their family members can take leisurely strolls. In addition to the nursing facility, Friendship Haven also operates an independent living community, and an assisted living program.
“The Simpson Health Center at Friendship Haven isn’t a ‘health care facility,’ it’s not a ‘nursing home,’ it is home,” the nominator wrote. “But undoubtedly, the biggest reason is because the staff at Friendship Haven’s Simpson Health Center cares.”
The Simpson Center is a beautiful new addition supported by the Fort Dodge community, which contributed significantly toward the capital campaign goal of $3.5 million. “That in itself is a real compliment to the reputation that Friendship Haven’s Simpson Health Center has had over the years,” the nominator continued.
“The beautiful Simpson Health Center, coupled with an amazing staff that is thoroughly in tune, caring, attentive and compassionate to the residents and the families they serve; would be a perfect fit and very deserving of being honored with the prestigious 2014 Governor’s Award for Quality Care,” the author concluded.
The final facility selected for a 2014 Governor’s Award – Prairie View Home in Sanborn – received three nominations, all from family members of current or former residents. “The staff enhances the highest quality of life for the residents by genuinely caring for them,” one nominator wrote. “There is no question as to who is top priority at Prairie View – it is the residents.”
“The willingness to communicate with family members/representative(s) by both administration and staff, gives one confidence that those responsible for a loved one are serious about fulfilling their duties as care-givers,” another nominator wrote, adding: “The administration and staff are committed to providing services that insure the best individual care for the resident while maintaining open and informed communication with family members or representative(s).”
Perhaps it was the third nominator who best summed up the atmosphere at Prairie View Home: “Prairie View is like an extended family. They are courteous and responsible. Honorable and respectful.”The Governor’s Award for Quality Care was established to recognize long-term care providers that provide – in the nominator’s opinion a high level of care to their residents. This year’s Governor’s Award recipients were selected from a field of 16 nominated facilities. Since the first awards were presented in 2001, a total of 50 awards have been presented to 44 individual facilities.
“What is most unique about the Governor’s Award for Quality Care is the fact that facilities are nominated by those they serve or the family members of their residents,” Governor Branstad explained. “All 16 nominated facilities should feel a sense of pride in knowing that their residents and family members take comfort in the dedicated service and quality of care provided.”
“Woodland Terrace, Friendship Haven, and Prairie View Home have demonstrated to their residents and their families that they provide outstanding care and services in the communities in which they are located. Both Governor Branstad and I are delighted to have them selected as recipients of the 2014 Governor’s Award,” the Lt. Governor added. “We congratulate these facilities, and thank the administrators and staffs for their commitment to outstanding care and quality service for our state’s senior citizens.”