Valley View Home Completes State Survey

Valley View Home Administrator Wes Thompson informed the Courier that the skilled-nursing facility passed a state survey with only ten tags none of which exceeded the ‘moderate’ review category for the state. According to Thompson, the state’s average number of tags are between 17 to 25, and represent the observations of the survey team that indicate things that need fixed.

According to Thompson, tags range from the most severe infractions called “immediate jeopardies” to less serious “immediate fixes” to “moderate fixes” and finishing with the least significant category “please review”. Many of the citations received in the Department of Public Health and Human Safety (DPHHS) survey related to residents in the following ways: How residents submitted grievances and ensuring each resident was aware of the procedure; clarifying and maintaining discharge plans; medication disbursement; fall prevention plans; resident advocacy with primary care providers among other issues.

In 2016, Valley View Home received three “Immediate Jeopardy” tags that not only cost the home in the form of fines, but led to unrest and upheaval that culminated in the termination of the managing company for the home in early 2017. By early 2018 the home had hired Wes Thompson as the new administrator and focused on passing a hospital district to fund budget shortfalls from state medicaid reimbursements.

Thompson reiterated that the facility was focused on three changes since the last management company left: One, a permanent new administrator (achieved with the hiring of Thompson); two, a census of 60 residents (which the home has been hovering just shy of for sometime, but he was confident would be achieved shortly); third, improve the DPHHS survey results (which he touted as a success with the most recent results).

Other highlights Thompson reiterated were that the staffing challenges faced at the facility are following their downward trends. He stated that Valley View will always have some contract nurses on staff, but that it had reached a sustainable level. He said a number of former employees and certified nursing aides had returned to the facility helping alleviate those concerns.

Thompson also pointed out that the roof renovation was complete and had gone better than expected. He also expressed excitement in the Medicaid reimbursement rates indicating that the current rate of $194.72 per day (a recent increase from the $187 per day last year) was set to go up again to $201.83 per day, which brings the home that much closer to closing the gap between daily operating cost of roughly $225 per day and Medicaid reimbursement.

“We are being more consistent,” explained Thompson while discussing Valley View’s success and outlook. He added, “And that word consistency is of upmost importance to our residents.”