By Jenna Mink

LEXINGTON, Ky., Apr. 12, 2008 (McClatchy-Tribune Regional News delivered by Newstex) --
Alice Park is devastated.

Her mother lives at Kenton Healthcare, a nursing home in Lexington.

But Frances Porter, along with 119 other residents, will have to move by May 9, because the facility failed to correct problems cited by state inspectors.

The state terminated the provider agreement under which Kenton Healthcare receives Medicaid and Medicare reimbursement for the residents it serves.

Without the federal reimbursements, only residents who can pay the bills out of pocket can remain.

Alice Park, a Versailles resident, visits her parents at Kenton every day and knows they would like to stay, but can't. Her father, William Stannard, has called Kenton home for six years, her mother for one year.

"They're frustrated," Park said. "My mother is absolutely heartbroken ... she's been happy here."

The options for the displaced residents are limited, with a shortage of nursing home beds in the Bluegrass region.

Health care centers in the region have 3,763 nursing facility beds. According to a 2006 report, 91 percent of those beds were filled.

"I just know they're mostly full," said Kathleen Gannoe, director of the Nursing Home Ombudsman Agency of the Bluegrass. "We have suffered an attrition of beds."

Kenton is owned by NorthPoint Senior Services, a for-profit company based in Louisville. NorthPoint also owned Hamburg Healthcare Center, which lost its certification in January 2007.

"They're totally different homes and a different set of circumstances," said Bill Gray, vice president of human resources for NorthPoint Senior Services, based in Louisville. "Different deficiencies were cited."

Sadiqa Reynolds, inspector general for the Kentucky Cabinet for Health and Family Services, said officials with the state Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services noted "substantial noncompliance" with federal requirements at the nursing facility on three occasions in February and March.

According to correspondence which the state released Tuesday under an Open Records request, issues were cited in such areas as quality of care, comprehensive care plans, administration, medical director, laboratory services and quality assessment and assurance.

"I would say that it was not one thing, but the severity of the deficiencies," Reynolds said. "The other thing was that they were not able to give us any allegations compliance ... they didn't show any ability to be able to comply."

Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services did not think Kenton corrected those issues in a timely manner, Gray said.

Reynolds said that state officials ultimately decided to end Kenton Healthcare's provider agreement because Kenton officials failed to "show any ability to be able to comply" with regulations.

But Park, who is a nurse at St. Joseph Medical Center, said he has been satisfied with the staff's treatment of her parents.

"I would have never let my mom and dad be here if I thought the care was bad."

Gray said Kenton Healthcare is working to correct its health issues and hopes to be recertified. Hamburg Healthcare was not recertified under NorthPoint and was eventually sold.

According to Reynolds, the state inspector general, Kenton Healthcare's provider agreement officially ended at midnight, April 9. Kenton will continue to receive Medicare-Medicaid reimbursement for 30 days after that, but residents at the nursing home will not be covered after May 9.

According to Reynolds, Kenton Healthcare officials could take steps to get back into compliance. But she said it's unlikely they could do that before federal funding ends May 9.

Gray said NorthPoint officials are helping residents find alternative homes.

"Our main focus in the next 30 days is our residents, and the transition and meeting needs," Gray said.

Reynolds said the state also is working to find new homes for the Kenton Healthcare residents as close to their homes as possible.

Connie Mitchell is taking her 89-year-old mother, Florence Mitchell, to live with her in Paris.

"I'm taking my mother home, but I worry about other patients," she said. "I worry about other employees."

Some people have to catch buses or taxis to visit family who live at Kenton. And some residents have no living family, she said.

Park has put her parents on waiting lists to keep them together and in a nearby facility.

"You do the best you can," she said.

Information from: Lexington Herald-Leader, http://www.kentucky.com

Newstex ID: KRTB-0115-24456586