by James C. Sherlock
For the first time ever, a Virginia nursing home, Princess Anne Health and Rehabilitation Center (Princess Anne) in Virginia Beach, has been evicted from the Medicare and Medicaid programs.
Before I get to it, I want to acknowledge and thank those who have been working to improve nursing facilities in Virginia.
Federal. Medicare is administered by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) under Dr. Mehmet Oz. The federal HHS Office of Inspector General (OIG) under Juliet Hodgkins investigates wrongdoing in Medicare. Most chains operate in more than one state, making full owner accountability a federal matter under the investigative responsibility of the HHS OIG.
Virginia. In this Commonwealth, acknowledgements start with Governor Youngkin, his team and the General Assembly.
The Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources Secretariat led administration efforts under both John Littel, now the Governor’s Chief of Staff, and Janet Kelley. The Departments of Medical Assistance Services (DMAS), Virginia’s Medicaid agency, under Cheryl Roberts and the Virginia Department of Health (VDH) led by Health Commissioner Dr. Karen Shelton have earned the gratitude of all Virginians.
The Virginia Department of Social Services’ Adult Protective Services under Paige McCleary was responsible for the raid on Colonial Heights Rehabilitation and Nursing Center (Colonial Heights that woke up both the citizens and the General Assembly.
The legacy media, TV and print press, did its job well. Reporting on Colonial Heights by Tyler Lane of WTVR CBS 6 in Richmond has been particularly dogged and superb.
The General Assembly had been the place where nursing home oversight legislation went to die for nearly five decades. I have repeatedly skewered them here for it. But after the Colonial Heights scandal and its publicity, bipartisan support emerged for 2025 legislation that has provided more authority and money to supplement VDH inspection efforts.
Special thanks to OLC. Most of all, I acknowledge the work of VDH’s Office of Licensure and Certification (OLC) under both previous Director Kim Beazley and Acting Director James Jenkins.
OLC inspections teams, understaffed and underpaid, have doggedly and professionally inspected Virginia’s nursing homes for decades. It is their work that I most often quote here. It is that office that finally this year, after four decades, was given authorization and funding by the General Assembly to staff their activities properly.
OLC this year shot the arrows that finally finished off Princess Anne. Here is their complaint inspection report from February and revisit report from June. Apparently, the final straws.
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