8/14/25
A state agency that denied having inspection records for a Cedar Rapids home health agency now admits it has the records but considers them confidential.
Iowa Capital Dispatch reports the records are related to Compassion North America, a home health agency whose practices came under scrutiny earlier this year after the Iowa Board of Nursing presented evidence of falsified records, billing for services that were never delivered, and the employment of an unlicensed nurse to provide patient care.
On July 9, Iowa Capital Dispatch asked the Iowa Department of Inspections, Appeals and Licensing for a copy of a private accreditation agency’s inspection report for Compassion North America.
In response to the Capital Dispatch’s request, a spokesperson said they didn’t have the report.
After the Capital Dispatch reported DIAL’s claim that it didn’t have the requested records, the Accreditation Commission for Health Care contacted the news organization and said that it had, in fact, provided DIAL with a copy of the documents via email on Sept. 16, 2024.
The Capital Dispatch asked DIAL again for the records, and also requested email communications between the accrediting organization and the state agency.
Last week, DIAL provided the Capital Dispatch with the Sept. 16, 2024, email. The email included no text other than the subject line, and DIAL refused to disclose the email’s attached accreditation report, stating that DIAL was not the “official” custodian of that particular document.
DIAL didn’t explain its initial assertion that it didn’t have the records, nor did it explain how it could be the custodian of an email but not the attachment to that email.
Because DIAL has never conducted its own inspection of Compassion North America, and because it won’t release its copy of the accrediting commission’s findings, there is no public record of any regulatory oversight of the home health provider, which was first incorporated in June 2017.
The full article can be found at iowacapitaldispatch.com