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Six SD nursing homes are among nation's worst-rated, eligible for federal improvement program

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6 days ago

Business
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Six SD nursing homes are among nation's worst-rated, eligible for federal improvement program

Good Samaritan Society Sioux Falls Center, which was recently removed from a remedial program for nursing homes. (John Hult/South Dakota Searchlight) Six of South Dakota's 96 nursing homes are on the newest monthly federal list of the nation's worst-rated care facilities. Five of the facilities are eligible for a special program to improve quality of care through increased regulatory oversight, and one is already in the program. The eligible South Dakota facilities as of the April report from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services are Avantara Norton in Sioux Falls, Riverview Healthcare Center in Flandreau, Good Samaritan Society Sioux Falls Village, Lake Andes Senior Living and Wilmot Care Center. One facility, Dells Nursing and Rehabilitation Center in Dell Rapids, has been in the Special Focus Facility program for nearly two years. Good Samaritan Society Sioux Falls Center — separate from the society's similarly named Sioux Falls Village — graduated in July 2023, after spending 27 months in the program. Nursing homes are identified by the state as special-focus facilities based on their last three standard health survey inspections. Special-focus facilities must meet more stringent criteria two times in a row to be eligible for graduation. Dells Nursing and Rehabilitation Center did not pass its most recent inspection in January, so it will restart the process toward graduation. Because the number of special-focus facilities is capped, eligible facilities — even those that have earned CMS' lowest ratings for quality — can't be named a special-focus facility until other homes in the same state already in the program are terminated from Medicare and Medicaid or improve and 'graduate' from the program. That's a process that can take several years. As a result, there are homes in each state that are eligible for special-focus status due to ongoing quality-of-care problems, but can't enroll in the program. It's also why two of the five eligible South Dakota facilities have waited more than three years as candidates: Avantara Norton and Riverview Healthcare Center. Typically, the homes that are deemed eligible for special-focus designation have about twice the average number of violations cited by inspectors; they have more serious problems than most other nursing homes, including harm or injury to residents; and they have an established pattern of serious problems that has persisted over a long period of time. The five South Dakota homes eligible for inclusion in the Special Focus Facility program all have 1-out-of-5-star ratings from CMS. The federal agency penalizes and fines nursing homes for serious citations or if the facility fails to correct a citation for a long period of time. A portion of fines collected are returned to the state, which can be reinvested to support nursing home residents and improve their quality of life and care. Following are summaries of the problems cited at each of those facilities, along with the one South Dakota facility already in the program and a facility that graduated in 2023. Dells Nursing and Rehab Center: The 48-bed facility, operated as a for-profit corporation, has participated in the SFF program for 22 months. The home has been cited for 19 deficiencies since the start of 2024 and has been fined $67,773 in the last three years. It was flagged for 'immediate jeopardy' to its residents in February 2024 after a resident left the facility without staff knowledge for a third time in a year. The last two times, the patient was found wandering the facility parking lot. The first time, in June 2023, the resident was found a mile away. An alarm was set on the resident's tracking device to alert staff if the resident left the facility. The home was cited for 19 deficiencies since the beginning of 2024, with about $67,800 in fines during that time. The facility was found noncompliant for infection control in its latest state survey inspection report in March. Avantara Norton: The 110-bed facility in Sioux Falls is owned by for-profit company Legacy Healthcare. The home has been cited for 15 deficiencies since the start of 2024 and has been fined $175,402 in the last three years. It's been a special focus candidate for 39 months. The home received a serious deficiency in its November 2024 report for failing to protect a resident from neglect by a certified nursing assistant. The resident was not cared for in a timely manner, possibly contributing to two skin sores. The staff member was disciplined and educated, according to the report. The facility's most recent inspection report in March included several citations, including a quality of life citation affecting several residents primarily due to poor call light response times and aid. In an interview, one resident told the state inspector 'no one cared' at the facility, that he did not receive timely showers or help out of bed, and that staff response times to call lights vary from five minutes to three hours. He and other residents said they would sometimes have to call the receptionist's desk on the phone to ask her to send staff for help. Residents also said there were not enough staff to meet their needs, according to the report. Staff confirmed they occasionally experience staffing shortages. Administrators said they would require regular call light audits to review progress. The facility's most recent complaint inspection in April found a registered nurse was stealing controlled substances from the facility for four months. The nurse tested positive for hydrocodone and oxycodone and admitted to the accusation. Riverview Healthcare Center: The 49-bed facility in Flandreau, owned by for-profit company EmpRes Healthcare Management, has been cited for eight deficiencies since the beginning of 2024, including an 'immediate jeopardy' flag for failing to respond and report abuse allegations. It has been fined $81,568 in the last three years and been a special focus candidate for 37 months. According to the January 2025 report, a certified nursing assistant kicked a resident in the shin twice and covered another resident's mouth with a washcloth to quiet them. Several staff reported their suspicions but the staff member continued working and the nursing home did not conduct an investigation or follow its abuse and neglect policy. According to the facility's correction plan, the staff member was put on administrative leave, the administration educated staff on its abuse and neglect policy, and staff interviewed residents randomly and on a weekly basis to hear concerns or look for signs of abuse and neglect. In its most recent state recertification inspection report from February, citations included improper ulcer prevention and improper food preparation and storage. In a complaint inspection in February, the facility was cited for quality of care problems and failing to provide a safe, clean environment, among other citations. An inspector also found hazards including rusty, exposed edges of an emergency exit door, chunks of missing floor, baseboards, wallpaper and paint, and a hole in a ceiling. Good Samaritan Society Sioux Falls Village: The 177-bed nonprofit facility in Sioux Falls has been a special-focus candidate for eight months. The home has been cited three times since the start of 2024 and fined $67,504 in the last three years. It has been a special focus candidate for nine months. The facility was flagged for 'immediate jeopardy' to resident health in its June 2024 report because a resident left the facility without staff's knowledge twice within a few days and because another resident fell multiple times without receiving prompt assistance. In its most recent complaint inspection report in September, the facility was investigated for alleged abuse and neglect. A staff member was 'written up' for lack of care and false charting, for saying they'd checked in on residents and changed them when they hadn't. The staff member's charting will be audited, administration said in their correction plan, and the facility will randomly audit to ensure residents received scheduled baths, toileting and repositioning according to their care plan. Lake Andes Senior Living: The 43-bed for-profit facility in Lake Andes is affiliated with Accura Healthcare. The home has been cited 18 times since the start of 2024 and was fined $91,601 in the last three years. It has been a special focus candidate for six months. The home was flagged for 'immediate jeopardy' to patient health in two citations in the September report, including not notifying four diabetic residents' doctors when their blood sugar levels veered outside a normal range and failing to manage and prevent a COVID outbreak among residents. The report does not provide details on the size or results of the outbreak. It was also cited in a September complaint inspection when a resident left the facility without supervision. The facility reviewed its policy for missing residents, ran drills among staff and audited alerting technology used by the facility. Wilmot Care Center: The 29-bed nonprofit nursing home has been cited 17 times since the beginning of 2024 and has paid $10,377 in the last three years. The facility has been a special-focus candidate for two months. The facility was flagged for 'immediate jeopardy' to residents in its February 2024 report and its March 2025 report both for quality of life and care deficiencies. In March, an inspector found a water leak from the facility's whirlpool tub next to an electrical box, which increased the risk of electrical shock to residents and staff. In February last year, a resident left the facility without staff's knowledge and was retrieved by a staff member about a half-mile away. Staff left the facility's front door unlocked and the resident cut off their tracking and alert device before leaving the facility. Good Samaritan Society Sioux Falls Center: The 98-bed nonprofit nursing home graduated from the special-focus program in July 2023, after spending over two years on the list. It was cited for four deficiencies since the beginning of 2024 and has been fined twice for a total of $38,301 in the last three years. The home was found noncompliant during its last state inspection report in June last year for infection prevention and control, food storage and preparation, and using expired medications.

State employee charged with forging own medical marijuana card

Yahoo

02-06-2025

Health
Yahoo

State employee charged with forging own medical marijuana card

A marijuana plant at the Dakota Herb grow operation near Tea, South Dakota. (John Hult/South Dakota Searchlight) Another former South Dakota state employee has been charged with allegedly committing a crime related to their job — the sixth such case since last summer. Alexandra Feiner, 24, of Pierre, is charged with three felonies and one misdemeanor for allegedly forging and approving her own medical marijuana card recertification without a doctor's approval and avoiding the renewal fee. The standard fee is $75 annually. South Dakota voters legalized medical marijuana by citizen initiative in 2020. The program is overseen by the state Health Department. Cardholders must meet requirements certified by a medical provider, such as suffering a debilitating illness, before they can be issued a card. Former state employee sentenced in fake vehicle title case Governor signs order to create secure web portal for whistleblowers Former state employee pleads guilty to faking food-service inspections Full archive 'The defendant is charged with using her position of trust as a Department of Health employee for her own personal benefit,' said Attorney General Marty Jackley. 'This type of conduct reflects poorly on those state government employees who work hard for South Dakotans.' According to a news release Monday from the Attorney General's Office, Feiner's criminal activity occurred between March 2024 and March of this year. The Attorney General's Office was tipped off about the case by a Pierre resident and former state Department of Health employee, according to court documents. Feiner worked with medical cannabis cards in the state Department of Health and was able to create and issue them. She legally obtained a medical cannabis card in 2023 but allegedly reissued the card to herself in 2024 without a medical provider certification. Feiner turned over her card to law enforcement, according to court documents. She is no longer an employee of the state, according to Open SD, the state government financial transparency website, and her initial court appearance hasn't been scheduled. Feiner faces up to nine total years in prison if convicted of the three felony charges, including forgery; offering a false or forged instrument for filing, registering or recording; and possession of a forged instrument. She faces up to one year in county jail if convicted of the misdemeanor charge of falsification of public records by a public officer or employee. The Feiner case is among six criminal prosecutions Jackley has filed against former state employees since last year for allegations related to their work for state government. One former employee, Lonna Carroll, used her position at the Department of Social Services to steal nearly $1.8 million over the course of 13 years. A jury found Carroll guilty of grand theft, and she's scheduled to be sentenced in July. Other criminal allegations against former state employees included creating fake vehicle titles to avoid excise taxes, falsifying food service inspections, and the personal use of foster family food vouchers. In response to the run of prosecutions, Jackley supported a package of four bills passed during the recent legislative session that will expand the investigatory authority of the state auditor; strengthen the Board of Internal Controls; institute mandatory reporting requirements for state employees and penalties for failing to report; and establish protections for whistleblowers. Gov. Larry Rhoden signed an executive order in April mandating the creation of a 'secure standard reporting mechanism' for employees. The portal will deliver whistleblower reports of malfeasance to the state's auditor and attorney general. Lawmakers also passed legislation this year strengthening the ability of the Legislature's Government Operations and Audit Committee to conduct investigations and issue orders known as subpoenas requiring people to testify or supply information. Last year, then-Gov. Kristi Noem added an extra internal control officer position to the executive branch and ordered state employees to undergo annual training aimed at preventing criminal activity. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX

Prison drug smuggling ring busted, state corrections officials say

Yahoo

29-05-2025

General
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Prison drug smuggling ring busted, state corrections officials say

A photo taken at 3 a.m. on March 29, 2024, shows interior lights in the South Dakota State Penitentiary's East Hall. The lights stayed on after a night of unrest. (John Hult/South Dakota Searchlight) Following a protest in response to a string of violence and deaths at state prisons and amid continuing talks about potential prison construction, South Dakota officials say they've busted a ring of drug smuggling in prison facilities and imposed a non-contact visit policy. No drug charges have been filed, according to a Thursday news release from the state Department of Corrections, which said an investigation is ongoing involving its Inspector General's Office, the state Division of Criminal Investigation and the U.S. postmaster general. 'If the results of the investigation warrant prosecution, criminal charges will be sought,' the news release said. 'We will continue to counter every attempt to introduce dangerous contraband into our facilities.' 10 injured in prison violence days after protests over security and inmate treatment The news release said three methods of drug delivery into prisons were identified and stopped: Through the use of counterfeit packages imitating well-known manufacturers with drugs sent in through the packages. Through false use of the privileged mail system, such as counterfeit legal mail. And through the actions of visitors, including family members and friends, bringing drugs into the prison during visitation. The press release went on to say that three inmate deaths — one in February and two this month — were linked to drug overdoses on the penitentiary campus in Sioux Falls. The Department of Corrections has also imposed non-contact visits for family and friends of inmates 'in certain facilities,' the press release said. It also said 'non-contact visits may be expanded to other prison facilities' and 'additional policy changes are also under review.' 'We wanted to ensure that the public is aware of the work that has been done in these cases. We are taking action to keep staff and inmates safe,' said a quote in the news release from Secretary of Corrections Kellie Wasko. The drug investigation is occurring against the backdrop of activism against prison conditions and inmate treatment, including a protest Friday by about 50 people. Meanwhile, the state's Project Prison Reset task force is considering plans to construct new prison facilities. The group's next meeting is Tuesday in Pierre. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX

Yahoo

29-05-2025

Health
Yahoo

Prison drug smuggling ring busted, state corrections officials say

Report: Tough-on-crime policies could push prison construction costs as high as $2.1 billion

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17-05-2025

Politics
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Report: Tough-on-crime policies could push prison construction costs as high as $2.1 billion

The Project Prison Reset group meets on April 3, 2025, at the Military Heritage Alliance in Sioux Falls. (John Hult/South Dakota Searchlight) South Dakota will need a third more prison space than it has now by 2036, and lawmakers' choice to pass a so-called truth in sentencing bill in 2023 is a major reason why. That's among the takeaways from a new report on the state's prison infrastructure that says the state would need to spend between $1.9 billion and $2.1 billion on new prisons to deal with an inmate population that's projected to swell in spite of the state's decreasing crime rate. The state needs a 1,700-bed men's prison immediately, the report from Arrington Watkins says. Even then, it says, another 1,500 beds for men will be necessary in a little more than 10 years, when it projects a prison population of more than 5,000 people. South Dakota corrections work group formally backs need for new prison The state signed a $729,000 contract with the Phoenix-based firm as part of 'Project Prison Reset,' a work group formed by gubernatorial fiat in the face of state lawmakers' refusal to back an $850 million, 1,500-bed men's prison in Lincoln County in February. Lt. Gov. Tony Venhuizen, chairman of the work group, said the report supports the group's first official vote last month, which was to conclude that the state does need at least one new prison. Venhuizen was quick to point out that the $2 billion price tag would only apply if the state followed the consultant's guidance to the letter and built two large prisons, but said the population projections lay bare the stakes of South Dakota's current approach to criminal justice. The work group's job is not to address the drivers of prison population growth, he said. But he also said he's glad the report took note of those driving forces. The truth in sentencing bill, SB 146, requires people convicted of violent offenses to serve between 85% and 100% of their sentences, depending on the category of their crime. As a legislator in 2023, Venhuizen voted against SB 146, and its potential to impact prison populations 'was part of the reason why.' 'Those decisions are not free. You have to strike a balance there,' Venhuizen said. 'If you're sending people to prison for longer, there is a cost to that.' The bill's author and prime sponsor, Republican former Sen. Brent Hoffman, has a different take on the legislation's impact on South Dakota's correctional needs. 'The real issue isn't SB 146, which protects the public by requiring violent criminals to serve their sentences,' said Hoffman, a supporter of term limits who served one term and opted against running for a second in 2024. 'The underlying, systemic problems are recidivism rates, wasteful spending, misguided priorities and incompetence, and those problems won't be solved by any consultant's report or politician's rhetoric.' Every correctional facility in South Dakota is beyond its capacity now. The South Dakota State Penitentiary was built in 1881 to house one inmate per cell, but holds twice as many. The proposed 1,500-bed facility in Lincoln County, mired in controversy over cost and necessity and still tied up in litigation over its location, was meant to replace the penitentiary. There are two other housing units on the penitentiary campus in Sioux Falls, however, and each of those faces its own issues with overcrowding. The maximum-security Jameson Annex, for example, is overbooked because it houses not only maximum security inmates, but those in disciplinary segregation and those with serious mental health needs. It's also the sorting zone for every new male inmate in the state system, where inmates stay as they're assessed for longer-term placement. With $50 million spent already, state hires new consultant to restart prison planning The Sioux Falls Minimum Center, meanwhile, holds 245 men in a building designed for 96. Even with a large but temporary drop during the COVID-19 pandemic, new admissions to Department of Corrections custody grew an average of 3.2% a year between 2015 and 2024, the report says. That's in spite of a crime rate in South Dakota that's lower than the national average and on the decline. The state's total population has gone the other direction, increasing by 0.9% a year since 2010. Much of the long-term factors built into the new report were present for its predecessor, a report from Omaha's DLR group that pointed to a 1,500-bed men's facility as one of several necessary projects for the DOC. Senate Bill 146 is a wrinkle that didn't exist for the DLR group, some portions of which were used by Arrington Watkins in its expedited, two-month repeat assessment. SB 146 ropes in fewer than 10% of the state's inmates, the report notes – drug offenses are the most common charge for which South Dakotans are imprisoned – but the inability of those convicted of violent offenses to be released before serving at least 85% of their sentence will have a long-term impact on prison population growth. 'Roughly half' of the 1,246 more inmates the report anticipates South Dakota will have by 2036 is attributable to SB 146. Parole violations are another driver of population growth, the report notes. About 45% of new admissions to the DOC came by way of parole violations in 2024, the report says, and 84% of those violations 'were technical in nature rather than new criminal charges.' Minnehaha County State's Attorney Daniel Haggar cautioned that technical parole violations often involve serious misbehavior, however. Technical violations include drug use, he said, as well as absconding – losing touch with a parole officer altogether. 'When those offenders are violent offenders or sex offenders this is a threat to public safety,' he said in an email to South Dakota Searchlight on Friday. The state has already spent more than $50 million on the Lincoln County site, although a share of that money could be clawed back by selling land or reusing aspects of the now-stalled prison's design. Governor relents, appoints task force to reset prison talks after legislative loss The new report's top recommendation is a 1,700-bed, Level V facility, built within 30 miles of the existing penitentiary to relieve crowding across the entirety of the men's prison system. It also recommends demolishing the 1881 penitentiary. 'Level V' is correctional nomenclature for maximum security. Former penitentiary warden Doug Weber wrote seven letters to lawmakers during the 2025 session urging them to say no to the 1,500-bed facility in Lincoln County, essentially a smaller version of what the new report says is necessary. The focus on the factors driving the state's prison population growth raises important questions, Weber told South Dakota Searchlight on Friday, but he disagrees strongly with its conclusions on how to remedy the situation. 'There's nobody in South Dakota, in my opinion, except a handful of people, maybe in Pierre, that would be comfortable spending $2.1 billion on buildings for the Department of Corrections,' said Weber. 'There are much better ways to spend money.' Weber called a Level V facility unnecessary and too expensive in a state where the number of maximum security inmates hovers around 200. He also bristles at the idea of knocking down the pen. Millions have been spent to maintain it in recent years, including for air conditioning less than five years ago, and Weber said it could easily serve as a minimum security facility by removing the cell doors and putting a single person in each cell. Republican Speaker of the House Jon Hansen, a work group member and candidate for governor in 2026, said 'there's absolutely no way that I will support spending that much money on prisons.' 'If we needed to be building new facilities, we should be looking at the current location in Sioux Falls for a lot less money,' Hansen said. Prison work group peppered with public testimony in first Sioux Falls meeting Madeline Voegeli, one of the neighbors to the Lincoln County site who sued the state over the issue, said in an email to Searchlight that the group has serious doubts about the veracity of the report's population projections. The DLR report, completed in 2022, suggested a 1,300-bed men's prison at a cost of around $608 million. Now, she wrote, 'we're being told to swallow a nearly quadrupled cost of up to $2.1 billion, largely driven by SB 146 and questionable population projections.' Voegeli accused the state of engaging in a 'pattern of inflating proposals to make a billion-dollar plan' – the original Lincoln County proposal – 'appear reasonable.' Venhuizen said arguments suggesting that the Lincoln County plan's supporters tried to tip the scale in the consultant's report are misplaced. 'It's not a strong position to assume that everyone who disagrees with you is being dishonest,' Venhuizen said. 'If you're doing that, you should probably examine the strength of your own arguments.' Rep. Karla Lems, a Canton Republican who's both a work group member and an avowed opponent of the Lincoln County proposal, said Friday that she's skeptical of the conclusions, as well. The work group is meant to deliver its recommendations to a special legislative session in July. The state, she said, needs to spend more time thinking about reducing repeat offenses before it decides what to build. Rep. Brian Mulder, R-Sioux Falls, is also a work group member. He said the state needs to think 'innovatively' on how to reduce prison populations, and that the report is a clear sign of how necessary that is. Mulder was one of the prime sponsors of a bill to change the penalty for first- and second-offense drug ingestion from a felony to a misdemeanor during the 2025 session. Too few prisoners are getting drug treatment, Mulder said, and he feels the state ought to consider partnering with nonprofits to extend treatment's reach both inside the prison and outside, for parolees. He also has questions about parole supervision practices. 'I would ask 'what's going on now with things like remote monitoring,'' Mulder said. 'It's a lot more effective for the state for someone so they can continue to be held accountable, but be held at home.' Mulder supported truth in sentencing and continues to, though. He said parole reforms make more sense. Reforms to truth in sentencing laws ought to be up for consideration, though, according to Zoë Towns, executive director of a bipartisan think tank called Her group pushes for changes to criminal justice and immigration policy. The knock-on effects of incarceration for families and communities are heavy, Towns said, and the returns for public safety diminish significantly when inmates don't have a chance to earn credit for good behavior – even when the people earning them committed violent offenses. 'What we should be asking is 'how long is incapacitation actually helpful?'' Towns said. 'What are the policies that are most likely to help people, when they come home, to contribute to their communities and local economies?' Addressing behavioral health needs and addiction early on are more effective ways to deal with crime than incarceration, she said, but other strategies are even further removed from criminal justice. Towns pointed to research from places like the Brookings Institute that suggest investments in youth education and public health offer long-term returns for public safety. 'It's literally after school and public school programs,' Towns said. 'That has a stronger homicide reduction rate than policing does. I'm not saying there's not a role for policing. I'm saying that actually, factually, in evidence, has a stronger return than sleeping in prison.' The next Project Prison Reset meeting is June 3 in Pierre. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX

Latest news with #JohnHult

Six SD nursing homes are among nation's worst-rated, eligible for federal improvement program

State employee charged with forging own medical marijuana card

Prison drug smuggling ring busted, state corrections officials say

Prison drug smuggling ring busted, state corrections officials say

Report: Tough-on-crime policies could push prison construction costs as high as $2.1 billion

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