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HARTINGTON – The healthcare company now looking into purchasing the Hillcrest Nursing Center in Laurel will also be moving into Hartington.
Accura HealthCare and Arbor Care Centers announced a strategic partnership last month which would transition some skilled nursing and assisted living centers in Nebraska — including the one in Hartington —into Accura ownership.
Other impacted locations include Neligh, O’Neill, Franklin, Fullerton and Tekamah.
In a news release, the companies said more detailed information about the transition will be provided in the coming weeks.
Currently, Accura owns facilities in 30 communities in the Midwest.
Nursing homes in Pierce, North Platte and Kenesaw, in Nebraska are already under Accura ownership. The company is in the process of closing a facility in Butte.
Company representatives toured Laurel’s Hillcrest Center Thursday and are interested in purchasing the facility, said Laurel City Administrator Dan Kuhlman.
Hillcrest staff members, already against corporate ownership, have serious concerns about the company’s record when it comes to quality of care violations.
“I was surprised the (Laurel city) council was considering that company. It didn’t take much to find some pretty appalling articles,” said Laura Showen, a registered nurse who works on an as-needed basis at Hillcrest.
The company’s web page touts their Shenandoah, Iowa, facility being named the best nursing home in Southwest Iowa for multiple years. They also celebrate some of their facilities being deficient-free on state surveys, and 11 receiving the 2024 Bronze Commitment to Quality Award by the American Health Care Association and National Center for Assisted Living.
Online documents, however, point to some areas of concern, including an abuse investigation at the same Shenandoah, Iowa, facility in which a resident was allegedly bruised from a staff member in 2023, according to the Iowa Department of Inspections, Appeals and Licensing (DIAL).
Another DIAL report details a resident who choked to death last month at an Accura location in Lake City, Iowa. That facility was also fined by the state for a rodent infestation, insufficient staff and employing a non-certified nurse aid.
Accura also agreed to pay $60,000 last fall for employing an excluded individual at one of their facilities, as found by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General (OIG). The OIG investigation revealed a nurse — previously excluded from participating in federal healthcare — provided items or services billed to federal healthcare programs.
According to data from the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services, the Accura chain has been ordered to pay more than $1.1 million in fines for quality-of-care violations, and regulators have supended Medicaid payments to Accura facilities at least 11 times.
“This company appears to be the bottom of the barrel,” said Wendy Krei, a registered nurse at the Laurel facility, when asked for her opinion of the company.
Laurel City Administrator Dan Kuhlman did not respond to the Cedar County News' questions about Accura’s reputation.
Kuhlman announced Accura had shown interest in purchasing Hillcrest which prompted the tours last week.
