Louisville nursing homes shut down after reports of neglect, rodent infestation

Two Louisville nursing homes will be shutting down and paying penalties after site visits by Medicare officials showed signs of patient neglect and mistreatment

By Dustin Vogt

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WAVE) - Two Louisville nursing homes will be shutting down and paying penalties after site visits by Medicare officials showed signs of patient neglect, mistreatment, and in the case of one nursing home, rats in plain view.

Hillview Rehab and Care Hillcreek, located at 3116 Breckinridge Lane, and St. Matthews Care and Rehab Center, located at 227 Browns Lane, have dismissed cases seeking injunctive relief and will be shutting down, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.

The nursing homes are owned and operated by Medical Rehabilitation Centers, LLC, which is headquartered in Lexington. The company agreed to pay a total of $1,026,409 in civil money penalties to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.

“This office will vigorously defend the actions of CMS when it seeks to hold accountable nursing facilities that fail to comply with Medicare rules and regulations,” U.S. Attorney Michael A. Bennett said in a release. “Nursing homes must meet all federal program requirements and provide their residents, which include some of our most vulnerable citizens, with the quality care and services they deserve. When facilities fail to meet these requirements, CMS is authorized to hold the facilities accountable.”

From September 2022 through May 2023, the Kentucky Division of Health Care performed site visits to the two nursing homes.

The visits found numerous violations of Medicare rules and regulations for each of the two nursing homes.

In the case of Hillview Rehab and Care, findings included using blood glucometers on multiple patients without disinfection, leaving a resident with skin tears in an unheated room covered in urine and feces, finding rats and rat droppings in plain view within various locations and failing to implement care plans for multiple residents who each suffered serious harm.

For the St. Matthews location, findings include failing to protect residents from abuse, failing to complete proper background checks on its employees and failing to ensure that alleged violations of abuse or neglect were reported immediately among others.

On May 24, the two nursing homes filed federal lawsuits in an attempt to remain open, with the United States filing motions to dismiss and dissolve restraining orders entered by the court.

Following a brief hearing on June 1, the nursing homes agreed to terminate provider agreements with Medicare, dissolve temporary restraining orders, dismiss the cases with prejudice and close the facilities within 30 days.

The U.S. DOJ said Hillcreek and Exceptional Living Centers will pay a penalty of $636,752.75 to CMS and St. Matthews and Exceptional Living Centers will pay a penalty of $389,656.25.

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Louisville nursing homes shut down after reports of neglect, rodent infestation