Details about this story

• Source: Des Moines Register
• Date: March 02, 2008
• URL: Read the story
• Bylines: Clark Kauffman
• Topics: Health Care , Nursing Homes
• Data Types: State Data
• Description/Excerpt: Some of the worst nursing homes in Iowa are collecting tens of thousands of dollars in taxpayer-funded bonuses that are intended to reward quality care. Nursing homes that last year were fined by the state for abusing or neglecting their elderly residents are this year collecting bonuses from an $8 million state fund created to promote quality, cost-effective care. In some cases, this year's bonuses more than offset last year's fines that were levied by state regulators. A Des Moines Register analysis of the program shows that 23 Iowa nursing homes were fined $10,000 or more last year after inspectors from the Iowa Department of Inspections and Appeals found evidence they were providing substandard care. Of those 23 facilities, 16 are expected to collect the so-called performance-based bonuses this year from the Iowa Department of Human Services. DHS administers the Medicaid program, which pays for the medical care of poor people. Two of the nursing homes that will collect bonuses are now on the federal government's list of the worst nursing homes in the United States. The two facilities are Blair House in Burlington, formerly known as Rosebush Gardens, which has been on the list for three years; and central Iowa's Polk City Nursing and Rehabilitation Center, which has been on the list for one year.
• Database or Graphic: Go to site (com/nursingbonuses)