Troubled Nampa nursing home cleared by state, can take patients again

Holly Lane Rehabilitation and Healthcare Center in Nampa has been cleared by state inspectors, after months of scrutiny.

A notice from the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare issued Wednesday said the nursing home is in compliance with federal laws. The notice says Holly Lane was found to be in compliance as of Dec. 27. It is allowed to start taking new patients again as of Wednesday.

The inspectors said they verified that Holly Lane administrators had solved problems that prompted more than $900,000 in penalties and a ban on new admissions.

Inspectors in July found a widespread pattern of dangerous conditions that put patients’ health and safety in jeopardy. The issues were detailed in a more than 200-page report after a weeklong inspection. The report detailed complaints from patients about being ignored or unable to call for help using a call light; patients being left to sit in soiled clothing; patients being underfed and dehydrated; and a patient who died after being rushed to the emergency room.

The nursing home is one of only two that are equipped to care for patients who need ventilators to breathe. A ventilator is an artificial-respiration machine.

An executive at Holly Lane’s parent company disagreed with some of the state’s findings but declined to go into detail.

Several patients reached out to local media outlets to defend the nursing home, saying they were receiving excellent care at Holly Lane. But dozens of people contacted the Statesman to voice concerns, with several providing accounts of mistreatment that went back years.

After the July inspection, the nursing home was given until mid-January to solve problems, such as poor staffing, or face tougher sanctions. It was not shut down by health officials. A follow-up inspection in December found more problems severe enough to put patients at risk.

The inspection reported Wednesday was conducted off-site — not at the nursing home — which is a fairly common practice. According to the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare, inspectors doing an off-site review will typically decide whether problems have been solved by comparing the violations with the administrator’s plan to correct them, and by reviewing documents such as internal audits, care plans or patients’ wound records.

This story was originally published January 11, 2017 at 4:30 PM with the headline "Troubled Nampa nursing home cleared by state, can take patients again."