![]() ![]() “We were facing significant financial challenges from the lack of reimbursement, declining inpatient admissions and having a market share that wasn’t really growing.” ![]() “We took over the ownership of these operations and the licenses for these facilities in order to bring the added revenue down to the nursing homes to get them so that they had a black bottom line instead of a red bottom line when they were dealing with the Medicaid patients,” Davidson said. A 2019 report of financial statements said Beaver Valley Hospital and its network took in about $57 million in UPL funds.Ĭraig Davidson, executive director of Beaver Valley Hospital’s nursing facilities, said the hospital decided to acquire nursing homes throughout Utah to help keep the homes from shuttering and the hospital running in the black. Last fiscal year, it received funding for 44 facilities compared to Gunnison Valley Hospital, the next biggest participant, which received money for five. When compared to other organizations in the program, Beaver Valley Hospital is far and away the biggest player. The hospital just has to provide the state with seed money and comply with program rules, and the Department of Health obtains the additional funding from the feds. In the case of Beaver Valley Hospital’s facilities, that amount is much higher than the original Medicaid funding. The UPL Program works by increasing the amount of federal money nursing facilities receive to a standard Medicare rate. Called the Nursing Facility Non-State Government-Owned Upper Payment Limit Program (UPL Program), it provides additional federal funding each year aimed at keeping the homes open and improving them. That’s where a state program created by the Utah Department of Health comes in. But hospital administrators say Medicaid funding alone isn’t enough to keep the doors open. The residents and patients of these facilities outnumber the population of Beaver Valley Hospital’s hometown: around 3,100.Īs with many health care organizations across the country, Beaver Valley Hospital gets federal funding through Medicaid to take care of residents at its many facilities. In the span of just five years, it acquired a string of 44 nursing homes stretching from Logan to St. In 2014, Beaver Valley Hospital, owned by and located in the southern Utah city of Beaver, started buying up long-term nursing facilities throughout the state - lots of them. Because staff did not have a care plan in place, the individual was not fully sedated during the procedure and died gasping for air. A hospice resident at Provo Rehabilitation and Nursing was voluntarily taken off a breathing apparatus.One nurse’s response? “Oops, that’s bad,” according to the report. Nurses at Millcreek Rehabilitation mistakenly coded a resident as “do not resuscitate” - the opposite of what the person had requested.George Rehabilitation observed a woman, screaming and delusional, using a wheelchair asking for help only to have a nurse wheel her in front of a television and then walk away. coli - despite the facility being warned in 2018 about hygiene issues that could lead to infection. Nine patients at Rocky Mountain Care in Logan contracted urinary tract infections - five from E. ![]() Many other reports documented serious instances of lack of care. Last year, inspection reports warned that nine of the homes needed to implement infection control programs because of unhygienic practices. The Utah Investigative Journalism Project reviewed dozens of inspection reports dating back years for nursing homes owned by Beaver Valley Hospital, comprising nearly half the state’s Medicaid-certified nursing homes. When it comes to nursing homes in Utah, health reports show that issues of sanitation and patient care are not limited to one facility. (Leah Hogsten | The Salt Lake Tribune) The Pine Creek Rehabilitation and Nursing facility, April 4, 2020. ![]()
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