Nursing home takes regulators to court over resident’s eviction

An Iowa nursing home is challenging the state’s position that it unfairly evicted a resident from the facility for using marijuana.

In a lawsuit filed recently in Polk County District Court, Ankeny Health Care Enterprises, which operates the 91-resident Sunny View Care Center in Ankeny, says it evicted, or involuntary discharged, a resident of the home earlier this year.

The company alleges that on Jan. 16, 2026, the woman used marijuana at the care center and had no legal basis to possess or use or the drug. When confronted, the lawsuit contends, the woman admitted to the illicit drug use.

On Jan. 18, 2026, the woman was transported to a hospital for treatment of a urinary tract infection, the home claims. Two days later, Sunny View initiated an emergency involuntary discharge, and the woman filed an appeal, hoping to remain in the facility.

After a Jan. 30, 2026, hearing before an administrative law judge, a proposed decision was issued in the resident’s favor. Sunny View appealed, and on April 2, 2026, interim director of the Iowa Department of Inspections, Appeals and Licensing, Aaron Baack, issued a final decision in the matter, reversing the emergency discharge Sunny View had initiated.

According to the lawsuit, Baack found the discharge was unwarranted in two respects: the notice given to the resident informing her of the planned discharge was defective, and the woman’s alleged one-time use of marijuana was insufficient to support the conclusion that an emergency transfer was warranted to protect the health, safety or well-being of other residents and staff.

Sunny View is now taking DIAL to court over the matter, arguing Baack’s decision is not supported by substantial evidence in the record and that the decision is wholly irrational. Sunny View is asking a Polk County judge to reverse DIAL’s decision that the emergency involuntary discharge was invalid.

In its formal response to Sunny View’s court petition, DIAL has stated that its decision “speaks for itself” and asserted that Sunny View has failed to state a claim upon which any relief may be granted by the court.

A court hearing on the matter is scheduled for Aug. 21, 2026.

Inspectors: Woman ‘stuck’ at hospital 

State inspection reports indicate the resident is afflicted with progressive neurological conditions, multiple sclerosis, anxiety disorder, depression and functional quadriplegia.

According to the state inspectors’ reports, the woman’s written care plan at Sunny View referenced chronic pain due to muscle spasms caused by her multiple sclerosis, and the fact that she at times used “medical marijuana” off site.

Inspectors reported that in September 2025, a marijuana pen used for vaping was found in the resident’s bag and the resident admitted to the charge nurse she had given another resident “a few hits” on the device.

According to the inspectors, in January 2026, while the resident was hospitalized for treatment for her urinary tract infection, the facility’s administrator and director of nursing went to the hospital and hand-delivered the woman her emergency discharge notice from Sunny View, saying only they had “a letter” for her.

Inspectors visited the woman in the hospital on Feb. 10, 2026, at which the time the woman reportedly indicated she was “just stuck” at the hospital with nowhere to go because the home refused to take her back despite the administrative law judge ruling in her favor.

The inspectors alleged the woman said she was “devastated” by the planned discharge and was scared and anxious about her future. She said she cried each time she read the discharge notice, inspectors reported.

Sunny View was cited, but not fined, for failing to complete a comprehensive assessment and evaluation of a resident for readmission to the facility, and for failing to have the appropriate documentation in the medical record prior to issuing an involuntary discharge notice.