Coralville care center fined after patient wanders off and ends up in Nebraska
Hunter
06/09/25
A Coralville care center was fined after a female patient wandered off and was found at a Nebraska truck stop.
Iowa Capital Dispatch reports the incident occurred at the beginning of the year at NeuroRehab’s Glen Oaks facility, a five-bed residential care facility for people with mental or developmental disabilities.
A worker at the facility told state inspectors last month that she was working the morning shift on January 2nd and failed to check on the woman at the beginning of her shift as instructed. She then checked on the patient, who had been diagnosed with a traumatic brain injury, dementia and psychological issues, at approximately 9:40am. She was not in her room.
It was discovered the patient got out through the window. It was snowing at the time, with temperatures in the low 20s. Staff started searching for the woman throughout Coralville but were unable to locate her. The patient’s mother notified the facility late in the afternoon that she had been found confused and frightened at a truck stop in Gretna Nebraska.
A medical provider who examined the woman the next day reported that she had engaged in some type of sexual activity. She was tested for sexually transmitted disease but came up negative.
Inspectors determined that the woman had walked over two miles to the interstate and had been apparently picked up by a semi driver.
Community NeuroRehab was fined $3000 for violations related to the incident.
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