One of Iowa's largest nursing home chains is being prepped for sale after amassing more than $1 million in fines, the Iowa Capital Dispatch reported March 2.
Clive, Iowa-based QHC Facilities owns eight skilled nursing facilities and two assisted-living centers in Iowa and filed for bankruptcy in late December. QHC's owner, Nancy Voyna, died a few weeks after the bankruptcy declaration, and her son is pursuing a sale of the company and all of its assets, according to the newspaper.
Two of the facilities faced termination from the Medicare program over care quality issues, an issue that could affect their sale.
Despite the facilities avoiding termination, CMS objected to some of QHC’s plans to sell the chain, noting that the chain owes the federal government $85,000 for Medicare "advanced payments" collected and more than $1.1 million in for fines related to quality-of-care violations.
The judge presiding over the chain's bankruptcy case ordered that any sale be subject to court approval and that if more than two facilities are included in the sale, the price of each facility must be specified, according to Iowa Capital Dispatch.