Aase Haugen Home in Decorah was recently cited by state inspectors following the death of a resident in November of 2024. Staff there said they addressed the state’s concerns quickly, and state officials lowered the senior care facility’s “jeopardy status” soon after visiting Aase Haugen last month. (Photo by Seth Boyes)
By Seth Boyes,
Editor’s note: This report was written using information from an earlier article authored by Clark Kauffman of the Iowa Capital Dispatch. Kauffman’s original article detailed citations issued to five care facilities across the state. The Decorah Leader chose to edit the original article to focus on Aase Haugen Home in Decorah and staff sought additional comment from officials at Aase Haugen before local publication. The original article can be viewed by visiting: iowacapitaldispatch.com/2025/01/14/iowa-care-facilities-recently-cited-for-death-abuse-and-neglect/
BY SETH BOYES, DECORAH LEADER, & CLARK KAUFFMAN, IOWA CAPITAL DISPATCH
Aase Haugen Home in Decorah was recently cited after state officials investigated the death of a resident in November of 2024, but staff at the senior care facility said state inspectors were satisfied Aase Haugen had addressed the allegations soon after visiting the facility last month.
“This incident doesn’t define the organization or the mission or how we’re going to move forward,” said Rex Nelson, director of operations at Aase Haugen. “It is a tough situation, but we’ve got hundreds of shining examples that would speak to the trajectory that the company’s actually on.”
Officials with the Iowa Department of Inspections, Appeals and Licensing said a male resident of Aase Haugen died in early November of 2024. Nelson was unable to provide specific details due to legal privacy restrictions, but he noted the state’s report spans approximately three weeks, which Nelson indicated may only provide a limited view into the resident’s overall condition while at Aase Haugen.
The citation against Aase Haugen specified the man experienced “significant dementia” and had a “history of hip fracture and hospitalization.” The man’s right hip was replaced in 2022, according to state investigators, and he underwent surgery to repair his right femur on Oct. 11, 2024. State investigators said providers reported the man’s “mental state has not been the same since he was hospitalized for his femur fracture.” Nelson, though not referring specifically to the deceased resident, said surgical anesthesia can sometimes decrease cognitive function among elderly individuals, adding that in some case it cannot be restored through therapy.
Nelson added the state’s recent investigation largely focused on a lack of documentation establishing whether staff conducted follow-up assessments of the resident or notified his primary care physician after observing changes in his health.
“How it was portrayed would have been much different if the documentation accurately reflected the knowledge that all of these nurses on all of these days and all of these shifts that were taking care of him shared with myself and each other,” Nelson said.
State inspectors allege that approximately a week after the man was discharged following surgery on his femur, he showed signs of increased blood pressure, an elevated pulse and a fever.
On Oct. 21, 2024, a nurse noticed “a moderate amount” of drainage on the man’s sweatpants along the incision site, according to the state’s citation, and he developed a fever by the next morning – which state investigators said the staff treated. He was reported to be lethargic that afternoon, at which point records showed staff called the man’s power of attorney but not necessarily his primary care provider, according to the citation. The man was seen by a psychiatric provider that same day via video conferencing. The provider noticed the man “was slumped over and not responding to her questions,” inspectors later reported, and she immediately halted the consultation and told the nurse at the Aase Haugen Home the man appeared to be in urgent need of a medical evaluation.
The resident was transported to a hospital emergency room, where the emergency room staff allegedly wrote in their reports that the man appeared to be suffering from sepsis, which can be a life-threatening infection, and that the man was “profoundly dehydrated” as well as verbally non-responsive. The man was admitted to the hospital with what the citation described as “a 7-liter water deficit.”
He was admitted to hospice care on Oct. 29, 2024, according to state investigators, and he died nine days later on Nov. 7. The man’s immediate cause of death was listed as dehydration due to or as a consequence of sepsis.
Nelson was unable to confirm whether the man’s death resulted in any staff terminations. However, he and state investigators both said Aase Haugen immediately held an emergency staff in-service to address the situation. Nelson said staff reeducated employees on proper notifications, assessments and reporting of changes in residents’ health.
Full article available in the January 23 Decorah Leader.
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