Muscatine nursing home to close its doors this week

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By The Associated Press | Sunday, August 27, 2006 11:26 PM CDT | () comments

The Riverbend Nursing and Rehabilitation Center, in Muscatine, Iowa, will voluntarily surrender its license Friday, ending a tumultuous era of mishaps and investigations.

The facility will close this week after facing accusations of improper resident care and thousands of dollars in federal fines.

State regulators said last year that the facility’s license was revoked in January 2005 because of “repeated failure” to comply with regulations.

Hundreds of pages of state records reveal a variety of problems in recent years, including one patient whose right foot was amputated after problems with sores turned into gangrene. Another resident with schizophrenia had a sexual encounter with another patient who suffered from dementia and depression.

The home, owned by American Healthcare Associates, faced more than $75,000 in federal fines as state regulators voted early last year to revoke its license. American Healthcare appealed the decision, prompting the recent agreement for the company to close Riverbend and regulators to reduce the federal fines to about $50,000.

Andrea Kepple, American Healthcare’s controller, could not be reached for comment late Sunday by the Quad-City Times.

In 2004, Riverbend and four other facilities owned by American Healthcare were placed on a state list of the 18 worst nursing homes in Iowa. That same year, two of the company’s facilities in Oskaloosa had their state licenses revoked.

Riverbend, which once had housed about 100 residents, had been cited for such violations as improperly restraining a patient in bed, poor nutrition that led to significant weight loss for several patients, allowing pressure sores to get out of hand and not giving patients their medications.

Riverbend has faced a declining resident base since federal officials last year withdrew funding to care for Medicare recipients. Less than a dozen residents could afford to stay at the home after the cuts, state officials said.

The company continues to operate 11 other care facilities in Iowa, including homes in Ames, Newton and Sioux City.