LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Two Louisville nursing homes have permanently shut down after a legal battle with state officials.
On Tuesday, U.S. Attorney Michael A. Bennett said the nursing homes – Hillcreek Rehab and Care and St. Matthews Care and Rehab Center – have also agreed to pay more than $1 million to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) for violating compliance with Medicare regulations.
Both nursing homes are owned and operated by Exceptional Living Centers which is headquartered in Lexington, Kentucky.
The nursing homes were part of a WHAS11 FOCUS team investigation involving long-term care facilities which faced hefty fines, but then were awarded substantial incentive payments for following COVID-19 protocols.
Officials said numerous state surveys between September 2022 and May 2023 found disturbing noncompliance issues with Medicare’s rules and regulations inside both nursing homes.
Here’s what each report found:
Hillcreek Rehab and Care
- Hillcreek repeatedly used blood glucometers on multiple patients without disinfecting the glucometers.
- Hillcreek left a resident in an unheated room, on the floor with skin tears, covered in urine and feces, who ultimately died of hypothermia.
- Hillcreek was infested with rodents, with rats and their droppings in plain view in various parts of the facility including resident rooms, and a resident was bitten by a rodent.
- Hillcreek left residents in soiled clothing and linens without appropriate checks from staff.
- Hillcreek left garbage cans in resident rooms and elsewhere overflowing with soiled adult briefs.
- Hillcreek failed to implement care plans for multiple residents, each of whom later suffered serious harm.
- A March 2023 survey found that Hillcreek improperly kept medications past expiration and improperly left medications unlocked.
- Hillcreek hired personnel despite disqualifying criminal convictions.
- Even though Hillcreek corrected some deficiencies cited by Kentucky, Hillcreek failed to be in substantial compliance even after a fourth revisit. Many Hillcreek resident rooms still had malfunctioning and nonfunctioning heating and cooling units, including one left pulled out of an exterior wall, allowing rodents to enter.
Saint Matthews
- St. Matthews failed to protect residents from abuse.
- St. Matthews used blood glucometers on multiple patients without disinfecting them properly between uses.
- St. Matthews’ personnel files failed to show that complete and proper background checks had been performed on its employees, with some employees having disqualifying events that proper background checks should have revealed.
- St. Matthews failed to ensure that alleged violations involving abuse, neglect, exploitation, or mistreatment, including injuries of unknown source and misappropriation of resident property, were reported immediately.
- St. Matthews failed to develop and implement care plan interventions for residents with physician’s orders for oxygen.
CMS Administrator Chiquita Brooks-LaSure said the reports show residents were not receiving proper care.
“CMS takes seriously our role in promoting the health and safety of nursing home residents. As was shown during onsite inspections, the residents of these two nursing homes did not receive the care they were entitled to,” Brooks-LaSure said. “We appreciate the efforts of the State of Kentucky to assess the quality of care through the survey process and support the relocation of residents to safer settings.”
Hillcreek will pay a penalty of $636,752.75 to the CMS while St. Matthews and Exceptional Living Centers will pay a penalty of $389,656.25.
Make it easy to keep up-to-date with more stories like this. Download the WHAS11 News app now. For Apple or Android users.
Have a news tip? Email assign@whas11.com, visit our Facebook page or Twitter feed.