Louisville nursing homes closing because of rats ‘as big as cats’ and other problems

A Lexington-based nursing home chain has agreed to close two of its Louisville facilities, displacing roughly 200 people, after state inspectors uncovered serious problems over the past six months, including a rodent infestation, filthy living conditions and a general lack of care for the elderly and ailing residents.

Exceptional Living Centers last week entered a settlement with the federal government in U.S. District Court to voluntarily terminate its Medicare provider agreements at Hillcreek Rehabilitation and Care and St. Matthews Care and Rehabilitation Center.

Such a loss is typically a financial death blow for a nursing home.

The company is working closely with state and federal officials to transfer residents of Hillcreek and St. Matthews to other nursing homes around Jefferson County by July 6, according to its closure plan, obtained by the Herald-Leader.

The company also agreed to pay civil monetary penalties of $1,026,408 to the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.

Tom Watts, president of Exceptional Living Centers, declined to comment Tuesday, as did the company’s attorneys. The company continues to operate 25 nursing homes across Kentucky and six other states.

The Cabinet for Health and Family Services, which inspects nursing homes on behalf of the federal government, did not respond to requests seeking comment Tuesday.

In their reports on Hillcreek, state inspectors cited a persistent rodent infestation; unheated bedrooms in freezing winter months; filthy living conditions, including dirty bathrooms, the lingering stench of urine and feces, and trash cans overflowing with adult diapers; a lack of clean linens; blood-testing equipment that was not sanitized between use on different patients; and direct-care employees hired despite having disqualifying criminal records.

Hillcreek residents complained that staff did not check on them overnight, between 7 p.m. and 7 a.m., leaving them “humiliated” and “feeling dirty” in soiled pajamas and sheets because nobody responded to their calls for assistance, inspectors wrote.

A resident who fell in his unheated room the day after Christmas lay uncovered on the floor for more than three hours until he finally was discovered, inspectors wrote. Emergency medical workers described his skin as “freezing cold.” He died 10 days later at the hospital of hypothermia, they wrote.

Residents and staff told inspectors they were terrified by seeing mice and rats scurry through parts of Hillcreek, including bedrooms and on a resident’s bed, and by hearing them skitter and shuffle on the floors. Rodent feces was found around a nurses station. A rat bit a resident on his thumb, requiring medical care. One rat was nicknamed “Ben” by housekeeping staff, inspectors wrote.

A nurse who worked at Hillcreek told inspectors she didn’t believe other people’s rodent complaints “until she observed them herself,” the inspectors wrote.

“She stated the rats were ‘huge’ and as big as cats,” they wrote.

“(She) further revealed she had observed four of them in the facility and was aware that Resident #10 had been bitten by a rat,” they wrote. “She stated she was passing medications, date unknown, and was about to go into Resident #10’s room, when she heard shuffling and moving around and thought the resident had been awake. (She) stated that when she entered the resident’s room, she observed two rats in the window seal.”

At St. Matthews, inspectors cited abuse of residents, including “a severely cognitively impaired” female resident whom police determined to have been sexually assaulted at the facility, and a resident who said she or he was hit by an employee but whose assault allegation was not reported up the chain of command, as required.

As at Hillcreek, inspectors said St. Matthews used blood-testing equipment on different patients without sanitizing it, risking the spread of infectious diseases and blood-borne pathogens, and it hired direct-care employees despite “disqualifying events” in their past, such as a social services assistant with a conviction for physical harassment.

The Cabinet for Health and Family Services filed inspection reports listing serious deficiencies for the nursing homes last winter after going several years without its federally required annual standard surveys at the facilities.

On May 15, the federal government notified Hillcreek it would terminate the facility’s Medicare provider agreement, closing the place and requiring the transfer of its residents to other nursing homes. St. Matthews received a similar notice around this same time.

Exceptional Living Centers sued the federal government May 24 and won a temporary restraining order two days later against both of the Medicare provider terminations. But the company soon changed course, agreeing June 6 to drop its appeals and close the nursing homes.