CHIPPEWA FALLS, Wis. (AP) - A Wisconsin nursing home has been barred from accepting new patients after investigators found it failed to do a proper background check before hiring a convicted sex offender.
The man worked as environmental services coordinator at Lake Hallie Memory Care in Lake Hallie, according to the Leader-Telegram (https://bit.ly/1ilW31r ). He was fired Sept. 30 when company officials learned of his third-degree sexual assault conviction.
The man was hired after a background check was conducted improperly, according to a report by the state Division of Quality Assurance, which is part of the Department of Health Services.
It was one of 30 violations found during an investigation of the 77-bed nursing home, which opened in 2012.
The state fined the home $31,000 and barred it from accepting new patients until the violations have been corrected, a DHS investigative report states. The nursing home’s operators sent their plan for how to address the issues to state officials March 11.
Two of the citations were for failing to properly conduct background checks, including the one involving the convicted sex offender.
Among other things, the home was also cited for using electronic monitoring in daily living areas, such as in dining, recreation and sleeping areas where that monitoring is not permitted. The investigation also revealed center officials did not maintain required documentation for several workers who had completed training programs.
The DHS sent a letter to the nursing home dated Feb. 28 outlining the forfeiture and citations along with a warning that if the center does not meet requirements, the agency may not issue a license to continue operations.
Mike McMurray, a managing member of Lake Hallie Memory Care, said his organization decided to accept the fine instead of appealing it.
“We have nothing to hide, and we’ve taken care of everything,” McMurray said. “We think we are doing a good job. Obviously, there is some disagreement on that.”
McMurray said the state sent the nursing home a “statement of deficiency” on March 4. He said the home had resolved nearly all the issues noted in the report before receiving it.
“We want to cooperate and fix everything they think we did wrong,” McMurray said.
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Information from: Leader-Telegram, https://www.leadertelegram.com/
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