Human Services Commissioner Vivian Ebbesen-Fludd said Wednesday that the V.I. government is working on ways to respond to the private Sea View Nursing Home’s recent decertification, to care for its patients and to keep them in the territory.
Centers for Medicaid and Medicare Services associate regional administrator J. William Roberson gave public notice earlier this month that Sea View Nursing Home had “failed to maintain compliance with Medicare requirements" and, as a result, CMS will no longer reimburse it for care for patients on Medicare or Medicaid after June 30. (See: CMS Notice of Sea View Decertification in Related Links below)
Sea View had been the only CMS accredited nursing home in the Virgin Islands. Medicare/Medicaid distinguishes between nursing homes, like Sea View where patients need skilled care for most of their needs, and assisted-living facilities, where patients live on their own with some help for daily needs. The Lucinda Millin, Herbert Grigg and Queen Louise homes for the aged are assisted-living facilities, which are not rated by the federal entity.
Expanding in a statement on comments she made at a Senate hearing last week (See Related Links below), Ebbesen-Fludd confirmed the government is looking at what it can do to help.
"As the designated State Medicaid Agency we are seeking the imposition of alternative remedies to the action taken by CMS to terminate the Sea View Nursing Home (certification)," she said.
"We will continue to work to assure that the residents at Sea View remain within the territory and a corrective plan be implemented to ensure that they receive the highest quality care possible," Ebbesen-Fludd said in the statement.
