San Antonio Express-News: San Antonio nursing home with no reported COVID-19 cases landed $9.3M in relief funds
A nursing home deep on San Antonio's South Side appears to have received $9.3 million in federal bailout funds meant to go to medical providers serving on the front lines of the coronavirus pandemic.
Hunters Pond Rehabilitation and Healthcare Center recently reported getting the funds from the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economics Security Act and other federal programs.
This disclosure was included in data released Friday from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
CARES Act funds totaling $175 billion were approved by Congress in March for hospitals and health care practices to cover the cost of treating COVID-19 patients and lost revenue.
But public health officials haven't recorded any employees or residents with COVID-19 at the 128-bed skilled nursing facility, located at 9903 Hunters Pond.
The facility has a one-star rating, signifying "much below average," on Medicare.gov and received 11 health citations on its most recent inspection conducted almost a year ago.
The facility is one of nine San Antonio locations operated by Keystone Care, a subsidiary of publicly-traded The Ensign Group, based in San Juan Capistrano, Calif.
Facility officials didn't respond to a request for an interview.
Earlier this month, the San Antonio Express-News reported that the federal government sent $2.3 million in April to Nix Health — a San Antonio hospital system that had permanently closed months before the city's first reported COVID-19 case.
Nix Health's for-profit owner, Los Angeles-based Prospect Medical Holdings Inc., said it returned the funds. The latest data from HHS no longer shows Nix receiving funds.
The provider relief fund grants do not have to be repaid as long as the company meets the federal government's conditions, which include submitting documents to substantiate that the funds are used appropriately.
More than 880 hospitals and health care practices in San Antonio confirmed the receipt of federal funds based on the new data produced by the Health Resources and Services Administration.
HRSA's data on provider relief funds includes the facility's billing name, city, state and the amount received, but the information released on the government website contained several errors.
Methodist Healthcare System of San Antonio, which received $38.6 million, is now listed in Jourdanton, Texas, where the system — co-owned by nonprofit Methodist Healthcare Ministries and Nashville-based HCA Healthcare — acquired a community hospital.
Baptist Health System, owned by Dallas-based parent company, Tenet Healthcare Corp., disappeared from San Antonio's list. Baptist is still receiving $22.8 million, but it is now listed under Nashville, Tenn., recipients.
Christus Santa Rosa Health Care Corp., which operates four hospitals in the area, including the Children's Hospital of San Antonio, is listed as receiving $12.8 million — up from $7.6 million reported two weeks ago.
It's unclear why Val Verde Hospital Corp., a public hospital system in Del Rio, is now listed in San Antonio. Val Verde County confirmed its 17th COVID-19 case this week, and its hospital is receiving $5.7 million in relief funds, according to HHS data.