Government Ready To Takeover SeaView As CMS Funding Run Out

ST. THOMAS — Governor Kenneth Mapp has made known that his administration is ready to take control of the SeaView Nursing Home and Rehabilitation Center that’s been under fire following a scathing Centers for Medicare and Medicaid (CMS) report.

The funding provided to the strained facility by CMS were set to expire by midnight on Tuesday, according to the governor.

The report, seen here, says “based on observation, review of facility complaints and investigations, and resident and staff interviews, it was determined that the facility failed to protect 1 of 14 residents from physical abuse inflicted by staff, and that caused a resident to sustain injury.”

The report also noted that, “based on observation, interview and record review, it was determined that the facility failed to maintain residents’ appearance in a manner that promotes their dignity.”

The above shows two of many inefficiencies cited in the CMS report. In 2009, Seaview received a five-star rating from CMS, however the latest review downgrades the facility to two out of five stars.

“The commissioner of Human Services, as well as the commissioner of Health, the attorney general and the administration are working to ensure that the 31 persons in SeaView are in fact safe and provided for,” Mapp said at a press conference in Government House on Tuesday. “We have called for medical assessments of the individuals to determine there mobility or lack of mobility.”

Mapp said the problems at SeaView are not a reflection of government inefficiency but rather “an issue driven by 100 percent private concern.” He said his administration stands prepared to “enter the courts of the territory to seek an injunctive relief which allows the government to go into SeaView, take control and care of these individuals, and to work with CMS for some access to provisional funding in that regard.”

According to the governor, there will be no conversations with the facility’s owners in relation to leasing or purchasing the property, as “our interest at this moment is the 31 residents that reside in the facility.”

The territory’s leader assured that more news on the government’s efforts will be forthcoming in the “next number of hours as this matter continues to roll to fruition.”

It’s the second time in less than a year that one of the territory’s medical facilities have experienced decertification by CMS. On September 19, 2014, CMS pulled accreditation status from the Juan F. Luis Hospital and Medical Center, with October 9 of the same year being the last day CMS would reimburse the hospital for patients on medicare and medicaid. However, after JFL officials made deliberate moves to show compliance, along with government and delegate lobby, CMS gave the facility more time to rectify its errors.

Currently, JFL is locked into a Systems Improvement Agreement with CMS, which will end this summer when CMS officials tour the facility to determine if corrective measures were taken — a determination that will inform CMS’s final decision.