EPIC FAILURES

Kansas Nursing Home Where Every Resident Got COVID Has Federal Funding Cut

The outbreak at Andbe Home infected all 63 residents and left 10 dead. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services has imposed fines and cut its funding.

A rural Kansas nursing home had its Medicare funding cut Monday after all 63 of its residents contracted COVID-19 this month, leading to 10 deaths and disproportionately contributing to Norton County’s case rate, one of the highest per capita in the nation as of mid-October. Staff at Andbe House failed to take the most basic safety measures—they rarely wore masks, continued communal dining and separated infected residents with just a privacy sheet. Inspectors from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) cited Andbe Home back in May for not following CDC guidelines. CMS then fined the facility $14,860 last week “based on the fact that deficiencies that constitute a level of actual harm or above were found.” Nursing homes have been proven to be high-risk settings for coronavirus outbreaks but experts say it’s possible to prevent them with proper precautions.