By Clark Kauffman, Iowa Capital Dispatch
An Iowa nursing home where a worker allegedly shared unauthorized video and photos of residents, with one photo captioned “This man is literally dying,” has been fined $1,000 by state regulators.
The Iowa Department of Inspections Appeals and Licensing has imposed a $500 fine for resident abuse and the personal degradation of residents, plus a $500 fine for failing to adequately report abuse to state regulators.
According to state inspectors’ reports, on Oct. 22, 2024, the home’s dietary manager learned “via social media” of a video depicting a certified nursing assistant having a conversation with female resident who was seated in a wheelchair in her room at Good Samaritan.
When questioned, the dietary manager reported that a dietary aide had informed her that one of the staff “was posting videos on social media of herself with a resident.” In the video, a worker could be seen talking about being a friend to the resident, who was clearly visible in the video, while pulling up the resident’s pants and then sitting on her lap.
According to state records, the resident has a severe cognitive impairment.
The dietary manager reported that after seeing the video she showed it to the home’s administrator that same day. The dietary aide who first raised the issue allegedly told investigators she had received “a couple of videos” and three photos from the CNA depicted in the video. She described the CNA as a friend and past employee of the home.
According to inspectors, one of the photos was of a resident’s feet, and another was of a catheter bag. The photo of the resident’s feet included text across the picture stating, “This man is literally dying.” The photo of the catheter bag was accompanied by text that referenced the color of “a resident’s p—.”
The inspectors’ report indicates that when the CNA in the video was questioned by the home’s management, she repeatedly denied participating in any such video, and said she was well aware that the federal Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act prohibited such conduct.
In an interview with state inspectors a month later, that same CNA allegedly acknowledged making the video, saying the resident was being “funny” at the time and that she didn’t realize the woman’s face could be seen in the video.
The Good Samaritan home in Algona currently has a one-star overall rating on the five-star quality scale used by the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.
In December 2023, the state cited the facility for 24 state and federal violations, including inadequate nursing staff, insufficient employee background checks and overall quality of care. The home was fined a total of $14,500, which was automatically reduced 35% to $9,425 due to the lack of an appeal filed by the home.
In 2016, following a spate of photo-related cases of nursing home abuse in Iowa and other states, U.S. Sen. Charles Grassley called on federal officials to take a more active role in fighting privacy violations of nursing home residents. In the wake of that effort, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services sent out a memo to state inspection agencies reminding them of residents’ privacy rights.
Last month, a professor at the University of Minnesota School of Nursing reported that a review of inspection reports from 31 states showed evidence of abusive privacy violations involving 152 nursing home residents.
Writing in McKnight’s Long-Term Care News, Eilon Caspi stated that 85% of the victims had some level of cognitive impairment, and that the cases involved workers sharing on social media photos and videos of residents in a demeaning, humiliating or abusive manner.
Deputy Editor Clark Kauffman has worked during the past 30 years as both an investigative reporter and editorial writer at two of Iowa’s largest newspapers, the Des Moines Register and the Quad-City Times. He has won numerous state and national awards for reporting and editorial writing.
Iowa Capital Dispatch is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Iowa Capital Dispatch maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Kathie Obradovich for questions: info@iowacapitaldispatch.com.
The Siouxland Observer 
My mother was placed in a nursing home do to short term dementia. What I did was to not come at the same time when I visited which let me assure her care. It worked.
That sounds like a good strategy for anyone who has a loved one in a nursing home, Dick. Thanks for sharing it.