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An Iowa nursing home run by an out-of-state company with a long history of regulatory violations has been hit with $64,750 in state fines tied to 28 state and federal violations.
The state fines against the Aspire of Washington nursing home currently are being held in suspension while the federal government determines whether any federal penalties should be imposed. The suspended fines include two separate sets of penalties that were tripled in size due to the repeat nature of the offenses.
The violations stem from a January investigation, conducted by the Iowa Department of Inspections, Appeals and Licensing, into a backlog of six complaints at the facility, four of which were substantiated.
Some of the allegations are tied to alleged abuse, although the state did not specifically cite the facility for resident abuse or failing to report allegations of abuse.
According to the state inspectors, one worker reported that a certified nursing assistant "treated residents terribly," saying things like, "Get out of my face," "I'm sick of you," "Stop your boo-hooing, I'm sick of it," and, "Stop your crying, it's all you do." The complainant said she had worked in "health care a long time and never heard someone be so awful to those residents," inspectors alleged.
A second employee reported the same concerns with the same CNA, alleging the aide told residents to "shut up" all the time, and would say, "I'm sick of you, stop your whining, you're driving me crazy." The second worker told inspectors she had informed the administrator "it was abuse," and added that the CNA would tell residents she wouldn't come to their rooms anymore because she was "sick of taking care" of them.
Among the other problems cited by inspectors in a 190-page report of deficiencies:
Aspire of Washington is a for-profit home owned and operated by Beacon Health Management, a Florida company run by businessman Bruce Wertheim of Tampa. Beacon owns at least seven other Iowa care facilities.
Until late last year, the Iowa homes were managed by a Beacon affiliate called Black Hawk Healthcare, also run by Wertheim. Black Hawk was the legal "tenant" of the seven facilities, while the real estate itself was owned by a network of companies run by Ryan Scates and North Cape Investments of Georgia, which acted as the landlord.
In November 2024, Scates' companies went to court to have the management of the facilities placed in the hands of a receiver. At the time, Scates claimed Wertheim and his companies owed more than $1.8 million in past-due rent on the Iowa homes and were "in a dire financial position, with insufficient cash available to continue to operate," according to court records.
The court appointed as receiver Michael Flanagan, a Kansas-based businessman who specializes in receiverships and has taken over dozens of financially distressed nursing homes around the nation. Flanagan declined to comment to the Iowa Capital Dispatch.
Court records show that in 2021, Beacon acquired the Iowa homes when it purchased the Pearl Valley chain of facilities for $24.2 million. At the time, the entity that brokered the deal said the homes were generating $35 million in annual revenue, with cash profits totaling $3.5 million per year.
According to federal data compiled and analyzed by ProPublica, Beacon facilities now have almost three times the national average of serious regulatory violations, have significantly higher staff turnover and lower than average staffing levels.
Over the years, several of the Beacon-owned Iowa facilities have failed to make their legally required payments to the state of Iowa in the form of "quality assurance assessment fees" intended to produce higher wages for front-line caregivers. Collectively, the homes owed the state $1.8 million in 2024.
Last year, the Aspire of Washington facility agreed to make an escalating series of 18 monthly payments, beginning in April 2024, to repay the $580,175 it owed to the state for its share of the unpaid fees. Other Aspire facilities agreed to similar payment plans.