GRC issued conditional license, fined $40,000

  The Iowa Department of Inspections and Appeals has fined the Glenwood Resource Center $40,000 and issued a conditional license to the state-operated facility that serves 230 clients with profound physical and mental disabilities.
  The actions were announced last week after findings of an investigation by the Iowa Department of Human Services (IDHS) revealed the physical abuse of seven clients and the verbal abuse or neglect of 13 others last year. Six GRC employees were fired and six resigned as a result of the investigation. Five additional employees were disciplined.
  The issuance of the conditional license means the GRC could lose its license to operate if problems identified in the investigation aren’t resolved. The facility could also lose its Medicaid certification if corrections aren’t in place by April 10.
  Investigators unveiled cases of staff members striking clients with spoons and butter knives, taunting, talking abusively and inappropriately to and around clients and neglecting their personal care.
  Richard Shults, director of mental health and disability services for the IDHS, said in a press release earlier this month that action has been taken to prevent similar incidents from occurring in the future.
    “We’ve taken aggressive employee action and dramatically increased supervision to ensure our clients are safe and treated properly in their homes,” Shults said. “State facilities do not tolerate mistreatment of clients and we require staff to report concerns immediately.”
    Shults said the IDHS’s “action” includes increased supervision of staff, more rounds by middle and top management at varying times and mandatory retraining for all staff on the standards of client treatment and on reporting suspected mistreatment.