Federal Inspectors Investigate Colorado Nursing Home Division, Virginia Nursing Facilities

The federal government is investigating Colorado's Health Facilities Division, the department that oversees nursing homes, the Denver Post reports. State officials said that "they have no reason to believe there was any impropriety and that they were mystified about the intent of the federal probe," the Post reports. Department Chief Medical Officer Dr. Richard Hoffman said, "We have no information about the nature of the investigation. We don't know when it started, when it may end or how it may evolve. We have tried to contact the U.S. attorney's office, but they could not tell us anything at this time." Hoffman said that he did not know if the investigation was related to a 42-page legislative audit released in September that "sharply" criticized the department for "incomplete and overly lenient" nursing home inspections. Hoffman added that the probe appears to go further than "simply a programmatic investigation" by HCFA. The Post reports that if the investigation were a criminal one, it would "originate" with the HHS inspector general and "might involve the FBI." However, state officials do not know if the investigation is taking that route. In light of the investigation, Jane Norton, executive director of the division