Dubuque (Iowa) Specialty Care nursing home will be fined at least $20,000 after locking a wheelchair-bound resident outside the building for 11 hours, Iowa Capital Dispatch reported Oct. 3.
State inspection reports indicate the incident revolved around a new no-smoking policy, which barred residents from smoking anywhere on company property. They could smoke if a friend or family member took them off-site to do it.
A few hours after staff was informed of the policy, a male resident became upset when he was told he couldn't smoke outside the building. A nurse allegedly asked him to sign papers acknowledging that he was leaving the facility against medical advice and told him he would no longer be allowed back into the building if he left.
The man was let outside, where he sat in his wheelchair at the end of the home driveway until 4 a.m. He called a taxi, but fell when trying to get in it. The driver called an ambulance, and the resident was taken to the hospital.
During his 11 hours outside, the man did not receive any food, assistance or medications including his insulin, which placed him in immediate jeopardy, the state inspectors reported.
The Iowa Department of Inspections and Appeals is holding its $20,000 fine in suspension until the federal officials finish their investigation. This allows the federal officials to impose a fine, though there is no public record of that happening yet, according to the article.