Carlisle nursing home placed on troubled-facilities list [Lexington Herald-Leader]

Aug. 20--A Carlisle nursing home has been placed on the federal government's list of troubled nursing homes in the United States.

Johnson Mathers Nursing Home was placed on the federal list based on "poor compliance history over the past three years," Beth Fisher, a spokeswoman for the state Cabinet for Health and Family Services, said Monday.

Among the problems at Johnson Mathers Nursing Home is a 2010 death that has been under review by the Kentucky Attorney General office. A nurse allegedly left a resident who was choking alone for 15 to 20 minutes.

Johnson Mathers has received two Type A citations from the Cabinet's Office of Inspector General since 2010. The censure indicates that a resident's life or safety was endangered because of violations of state regulations.

The list of troubled nursing homes compiled by the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services is known as the Special Focus Facility List.

Failing to resolve the problems could result in a nursing home being fined or terminated from Medicaid, the federal and state health care program for the poor and disabled, and Medicare, the health care program for people 65 and older.

Officials at Thames LLC, the North Carolina-based owner of Johnson Mathers, and officials at the Carlisle nursing home did not respond to telephone calls.

Meanwhile, Fountain Circle Health and Rehabilitation in Winchester had been on the list for 14 months as of last week and had not improved, according to the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.

Officials at Fountain Circle, owned by Kindred Healthcare, issued a statement Monday saying they were in compliance with all state and federal regulations.

"Regulatory compliance is only one measure of quality care," the statement said, "On more direct measures of quality care, Fountain Circle ranks better than the state average."

Valarie Honeycutt Spears: (859) 231-3409. Twitter: @vhspears.

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