The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services strongly rebutted a recent “60 Minutes” news report that accused the federal government of failing to come to the aid of the Kirkland, WA, nursing home that was the site of the country’s first COVID-19 outbreak.
CMS Administrator Seema Verma called allegations of delayed or improper action “revisionist” history in a series of tweets issued right after the early November broadcast. Verma had declined to answer questions for the segment, producers said.
Instead of helping the Life Care Centers of America facility that was dealing with large numbers of sick staff and residents, CMS first went to the facility to investigate, commanding more than 400 hours of precious staff time from caregivers, according to the news program.
“It was infuriating. They didn’t truly understand COVID or what the facility was going through or what we had been through,” Nancy Butner, vice president of Life Care Centers of America, told reporter Bill Whitaker.
CMS ultimately fined Life Care more than $600,000. After appealing both federal and state judgments, in September the state sided with Life Care, arguing that the facility did not commit negligence. The federal case is still pending.
“I think they wanted a scapegoat,” Butner said.
From the December 2020 Issue of McKnight's Long-Term Care News
