The board of directors of Golden Age Nursing Home is assuring the community that it is committed to maintaining a top-notch facility.
Allan Hammons, a member of the non-profit’s board, said it has taken “decisive action” to address issues that came to light during recent inspections.
“We are addressing our management of the facility, and we are bringing in a talented group of individuals who will be addressing all of our policies and procedures,” he said Wednesday.
The 180-bed nursing home was scheduled to lose its Medicare and Medicaid eligibility on Aug. 30 following a series of health violations, and it was also the subject of a state Attorney General’s Office investigation in March over the theft of prescription drugs from residents by two nurses.
Longtime Administrator Ed Hill retired in August and was replaced by assistant Nay Reed.
A survey team revisited the facility from Aug. 28 through Aug. 30 and found all of the “immediate jeopardy” violations had been corrected, according to Bob Moos, a spokesman for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.
However, it remains out of compliance on less-severe requirements, he said in an email. State inspectors will request a written plan of correction from the facility and conduct another inspection, Moos said.
Hammons said official reports from follow-up inspections won’t be available for a couple of weeks at least; he said the board would have more to say when those are released.
Golden Age has long held an important place in the Greenwood community, and it’s the fourth-largest nursing home in Mississippi, based on 2010 average daily census data, the latest available from the state Department of Health.
The current building opened in 1976, and it still has one original resident living there, Hammons said.
He said he’s confident that Golden Age will maintain the level of care it has had throughout its history.
• Contact Charlie Smith at 581-7235 or csmith@gwcommonwealth.com.
