Feds fine Washington nursing home $611,000 over coronavirus response deficiencies

A Washington state nursing home at the center of an early coronavirus outbreak faces a federal fine of more than $611,000 for failures in its response to the outbreak, The Washington Post reported Thursday.

The nursing home, the Life Care Center in Kirkland, Wash., failed to report the outbreak for two weeks, the Post reported.

The center could also lose Medicare and Medicaid funding if it does not take action to address the failings.

The Seattle-area nursing home, which has now seen 37 deaths from the virus, was at the center of one of the earliest known outbreaks of the virus in the U.S. 

The center did not notify county health officials for more than two weeks after it started discouraging visitors because of an outbreak, which the home initially thought was flu, the Post noted, adding that it continued to hold events such as a Mardi Gras party that could have helped the virus spread.

The federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services wrote in a letter to the nursing home, obtained by the Post, that if it “does not correct all deficiencies and return to full compliance by September 16, 2020, then CMS will terminate your facility from participating in the Medicare/Medicaid program.”

Nursing homes around the country are at particular risk from the virus, given that it poses an especially high danger to older people.

A Centers for Disease Control and Prevention spokesperson told The Hill on Tuesday that officials are aware of coronavirus cases at more than 400 long-term care facilities in the United States.

That is up from cases at 147 facilities last week.

Updated at 11:39 a.m.