Iowa Nursing Home Fined After Failing to Protect Residents From Sexual Abuse
An Iowa nursing home facility was recently fined by the Iowa Department of Inspections and Appeals after it reportedly failed to protect its mentally disabled residents from repeated sexual abuse. The facility's owner was fined $6,000.
Abington on Grand, a nursing home facility located in Ames, Iowa, reportedly has had a history of health and safety violations. In fact, between 2005 and 2008, the facility was on the federal list of Special Focus Facilities. Special Focus Facilities are facilities that fail repeatedly to comply with state and federal nursing home guidelines and, as a result, are inspected twice a year to ensure compliance and improve performance. In the past, the facility was reportedly cited for hiring workers without conducting required background checks, residents eloped and were found wandering near the facility in traffic, and for having dead mice in the kitchen.
According to the Iowa Department of Inspections and Appeals, residents at the facility were recently subjected to repeated acts of sexual abuse and threats. One of the alleged perpetrators was a man whom the court ordered committed to the facility late last year. Facility records show repeated documentation where the man threatened to kill people or sexually assaulted residents. Staff reportedly told inspectors that the man committed sexual acts with other residents daily. In fact, one facility employee told inspectors that she saw the man engaged in sexual relations with another resident but was told by a charge nurse to "keep an eye on the two".
A female resident of the facility with a severe mental impairment also reportedly engaged in inappropriate sexual conduct with other residents. A facility employee reportedly saw her in a male resident's room engaged in sexual relations.
State inspectors reported that the facility documented instances of sexual abuse by marking a plus sign in the residents' files. According to a nurse employed by the facility owners, the company had no policy on dealing with "resident-on-resident behavior issues".
The facility is owned by American Healthcare Investment, a company with a history of resident care problems. The President and sole shareholder of the company is Brian Hoyle, who holds a stake in dozens of care facilities nationwide. According to Hoyle, "I'm just the owner. The company I have is just the owner of the real estate. We have nothing to do with the operation."
This detachment from reality is allowed because legislatures around the country have failed to prohibit the corporate spiderweb strategy employed by most nursing home companies. Owners create multiple corporate entities that effectively suck all money from the nursing home itself, leaving residents living at poorly funded facilities. Owners, meanwhile, are often cashing in and enjoy the same plausible deniability employed by Mr. Hoyle.
