An Iowa nursing home where gift cards for residents were stolen has been fined $500 by the state.
State inspectors allege that in September, a Walmart gift card belonging to a resident of REM Iowa’s care facility on 33rd Avenue in Cedar Rapids was found to have been “spent fraudulently and no receipts could be located.”
Also that month, it was determined that at least four McDonald’s gift cards belonging to a different resident had also been spent fraudulently. The inspectors later determined the facility’s program supervisor had kept resident gift cards inside an unlocked cabinet within an unlocked office during the months of June, July and August 2025.
Previously, the office and cabinet were locked, but the program supervisor stopped locking them once it “became too much of a hassle,” inspectors reported.
The facility was cited for failing to ensure all allegations of abuse, neglect and exploitation were reported to the Iowa Department of Inspections, Appeals and Licensing in a timely manner and was fined $500.
The department fined three other Iowa care facilities.
REM Iowa-Birch Cottage, Shelby
REM Iowa-Birch Cottage was fined $500 for failing to provide nursing interventions to meet a resident’s needs after a 44-year-old man who was a resident of the home died due to a bowel obstruction that contributed to acute respiratory failure. According to inspectors’ reports, the man was breathing heavily the morning of Sept. 19 and at one point began convulsing and having seizures.
An ambulance was summoned at which point, inspectors said, the resident “acted normal, answered questions, and jumped up from the chair onto the cot” to be taken to a hospital. While at the hospital, the man’s heart stopped and he was pronounced dead at 10:40 a.m., about two hours after the incident at REM Iowa-Birch Cottage.
Stratford Specialty Care, Hamilton County
Stratford Specialty Care was fined $500 for improper use of physical restraints. The incident involved a nurse who had placed two dining room chairs behind the wheelchair of a male resident as he sat in a common area so he couldn’t move or tip the wheelchair backward. The facility was cited for failing to report the matter in a timely fashion and failing to immediately separate the nurse, who was later suspended, from the resident.
Sunrise Hill Care Center, Traer
Sunrise Hill Care Center was fined $500 for failing to conduct a timely employee background check for any findings of abuse or criminal convictions. Inspectors alleged an employee of the home underwent a background check in January but wasn’t hired until mid April. By law, background checks are to be performed within 30 days of an individual being hired.
Find this story at Iowa Capital Dispatch, which is part of States Newsroom, a network of news bureaus supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Iowa Capital Dispatch maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Kathie Obradovich for questions:kobradovich@iowacapitaldispatch.com.
This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Iowa care facility fined for gift card thefts from residents
Reporting by Clark Kauffman, Iowa Capital Dispatch / Des Moines Register
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