State: With no ambulance, family drove nursing home resident to hospital

A western Iowa nursing home has been fined $6,750, in part for refusing to summon an ambulance for a resident, forcing the man’s family to take her to the hospital in their car.

The Iowa Department of Inspections, Appeals and Licensing has cited the Spencer Post Acute Rehabilitation Center in Clay County for failing to provide adequate nursing services for residents and imposed a state fine of $6,750.

State inspectors allege a female resident who had been admitted to the facility on May 21, 2026, was suffering from nausea and dizziness two days later. According to the inspectors, when visiting family members decided they wanted the woman evaluated in the local hospital’s emergency room and asked for an ambulance to handle the transport, they were informed by the staff that wasn’t possible due to the lack of an emergency.

“The family had to transport the resident in a personal vehicle,” state inspectors wrote in their report. “(The resident) was minimally responsive. It took three people to get her out of the car when she arrived. It was difficult and distressing to the resident.”

According to inspectors, the woman’s son informed them his mother was “moaning and crying” during the transport. “He said she died two days later,” inspectors reported. “He said she shouldn’t have had to go out that way.”

The Spencer facility was also cited for its care of a female resident with dementia who appeared to be struggling to breathe on May 17, 2026. About 11 p.m., the home called 911. According to inspectors, paramedics arrived to assess the woman, who by then was bluish in color and had only a 78% oxygen saturation level — with anything below 88% typically being considered a medical emergency.

The woman was rushed to the hospital, where she was admitted to the Intensive Care Unit in critical condition with pneumonia, a urinary tract infection, sepsis and a possible heart attack, inspectors reported.

The paramedics allegedly told inspectors that when they arrived at the home and asked the staff for information on the resident’s condition, the workers reported the woman had been fine “a little while ago,” but later, when “pushed,” they acknowledged that had been around 6 p.m., five hours before 911 was called.

Tron Dandy, the home’s administrator, did not return messages from Iowa Capital Dispatch seeking comment on Monday.

State unemployment records indicate that in April of this year, Dandy fired the home’s assistant director of nursing, Devyn Henson, for failing to properly report a January 2026 allegation of resident abuse.

According to the findings of an administrative law judge, Dandy did not become aware of the alleged abuse until state inspectors from DIAL made an on-site visit to the home on March 23, 2026.

DIAL’s inspection records show inspectors were at the home on that day but did not cite the facility for failing to report the allegation of abuse.