Iowa Assisted Living Centers Face Legal Showdown
We discussed Dubuque Retirement Community and Jefferson Point Assisted Living Center and their intent to forego government licensure and inspection in our previous blogs. Now, Iowa officials have warned the owners of these facilities that if they move forward with plans to forfeit their licenses, they will be violating Iowa law.
In the past, both facilities had problems meeting minimum standards of care and have a combined total of more than $40,000 in fines in the past 18 months. Essentially, facility owners believe that, by forfeiting their licenses, the facility will be acting as a landlord rather than a health care provider and the facilities can avoid all inspections and regulations that come with assisted living centers. Allegedly, a separate company will deliver health care services to the residents.
State officials will not comment on what action could be taken against the facilities, but owners could be charged with running illegal, unlicensed care facilities.
As of August 21, 2009, Assisted Living Concepts informed Department of Inspections and Appeals Director Dean Lerner that it disagreed with his assessment of the situation and that plans to forfeit the license remain unchanged.
