Grand jury indicts nursing executive who allegedly hid patient injuries

A federal grand jury has indicted Larry Hinman, the regional director at Care Initiatives Iowa, West Des Moines, IA, for allegedly ordering nursing home employees to conceal residents' injuries from state health inspectors.

From 1997 through July 2003, Hinman's job was to supervise nursing home administrators and monitor state health inspections at Care Initiatives' homes in his region of the state. The nursing home chain owns and manages 53 facilities in Iowa.

Federal prosecutors allege that Hinman instructed nurse Carla Weber to keep inspectors away from one woman injured in a fall at the nursing home. Weber allegedly took steps to conceal the matter from inspectors, which included giving inspectors a partial list of resident injuries and hiding medical records.

The two registered nurses who worked at Care Initiatives' Indian Hills, Sioux City, were indicted last August, and the indictment was recently revised to include Hinman as a co-defendant. The three defendants are accused of conspiracy, obstruction of a federal audit and four counts of making false statements to federal officials.