Feds Fine Hilo Veterans Home $500,000 Over Deadly COVID-19 Outbreak
The Yukio Okutsu State Veterans Home has been fined more than $500,000 after a COVID-19 outbreak at the Hilo facility resulted in the deaths of 27 residents last fall, according to state health officials.
Keith Ridley, who heads the Hawaii Department of Health’s office that oversees longterm care facilities, told state lawmakers Thursday that the federal Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services sent the home an enforcement letter this week.
He said the letter notifies the facility of the civil monetary penalties that the feds have assessed based on state and federal inspections last fall.
“This is the highest I’ve ever seen on any facility here in Hawaii,” Ridley told a joint Senate panel that was hearing legislation stemming from the deadly outbreak.
Read more: https://www.civilbeat.org/2021/02/feds-fine-hilo-veterans-home-500000-over-deadly-covid-19-outbreak/