Hunter
08/08/22
A Solon nursing home is among those recently added to a list of the nation’s worst care facilities.
Iowa Capital Dispatch reports that topping the list in Iowa is Touchtone Healthcare Community in Sioux City, added on July 27th to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services’ list of care facilities eligible for designation as a Special-Focus Facility. Touchstone was added six days after the home was shut down and the last of its residents was moved out. Four vendors had previously sued them for failing to pay about a half-million dollars in management and patient-care services, and the facility notified the Iowa Department of Inspections and Appeals they couldn’t make their July 1st payroll.
Also added to the list was Solon Nursing Care in Solon and Dunlap Specialty Care. ICD reports that the Solon home has faced over $150,000 in federal fines since January 2021. The Special-Focus Facility list is updated quarterly by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services and includes homes deemed by the federal agency to have “a history of serious quality issues.” By being added to the list, the Solon facility is enrolled in a special program intended to stimulate improvements in their quality of care through increased regulatory oversight.
