CUYAHOGA FALLS, Ohio — Family and friends of an 80-year-old Cuyahoga Falls woman said they’ve found their loved one with bruises and sitting in her own waste while in a local nursing home. For months now, that same home has been on a federal list of some of the worst elderly care facilities in the country.
The home, called Blossom Care Center of Cuyahoga Falls, is listed as a Special Focus Facility by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, ideally to help it improve, but as we’ve reported, federal inspectors said the program is not working.
Karla Hykes described her aunt, Louwava Hykes, as a spunky 80-year-old but also someone who had fallen on hard times.
“She, unfortunately, lost her house, and she was septic,” said Karla.
She told us that’s how Louwava ended up in Blossom Care Center of Cuyahoga Falls, which changed its name from Continuing Health Care of Cuyahoga Falls.
Friend Becky Biddle also helps with Louwava.
“She’s appreciative,” said Karla. “She tells us all the time, ’Tell Becky thank you and thank you, Karla. I don’t know what I’d do without you guys.’”
80-YEAR-OLD HAS 'NEEDED' THEIR HELP
The women said Louwava has needed their extra help because she’s not getting the care she needs at the home. For example, Biddle wrote an online review of the home.
“A pipe broke and the ceiling had caved in,” recalled Biddle. “So, they had to move her… so they moved her to this little…it looked like a closet, but it was supposedly a room and she hadn’t gotten a shower for at least two weeks.”
The home posted an apology online and asked Biddle to reach out, which she said she has, for various issues.
The women said there have been times Louwava had been in her own waste.
“I think it’s just absolutely disgusting,” said Biddle. “And they had no Depends for her so…we had to go out and purchase them.”
They told us she’s fallen often.
“Bruises, lots of bruises,” said Biddle. “She’s hurt her tailbone and then sometimes she’ll have bruises on her knees.”
The women said Louwava has been in the home since it was known as Continuing Health Care of Cuyahoga Falls, a Special Focus Facility. Even with the name change to Blossom Care Center of Cuyahoga Falls in May of 2024, the home is still on that list, according to the Ohio Department of Health.
LENGTHY INSPECTION REPORTS FIND DEFICIENCIES
Inspection reports from just last year showed the Cuyahoga Falls home was cited after several residents had falls, two with injuries.
In April, an inspection revealed ”the facility did not ensure…staff did not neglect” a resident, then did not report that neglect, investigate it or take required corrective action.
In a June inspection, there were ”repeated falls” with actual harm to a resident, and that cause was not thoroughly investigated. And in December 2024, a 92-page inspection report found numerous deficiencies, including that the home “failed to provide sufficient nursing staff.”
In each of those inspections, the home responded with fixes like “revised staffing policy,” “staff re-education,” “new interventions,” and more.
Biddle and Karla said elderly care, in general, is difficult to watch.
“People don’t care about seniors,” said Biddle. “You put them in a nursing home. They’re there.”
“Sad,” said Karla.
“It is. It’s very sad,” Biddle told us.
SFF PROGRAM NOT WORKING, BUT WHY?
The nursing home at 300 East Bath Road has been in the Special Focus Facility program for more than 20 months.
We asked CMS why it took so long, especially since a recent federal report said the SFF program is not working. CMS would not go on camera but did send a lengthy statement, saying, in part, that it “continuously evaluates and strengthens the SFF program….” It’s now, in general, for nursing homes, “(emphasizing) the prevalence of falls” for SFF selection. You can read the full CMS statement further below.
For Louwava, Biddle told us she left a voicemail with the state describing Louwava’s treatment at the home and hoping to file a complaint.
“Which I did call. I left a message. I’ve never heard anything back,” said Biddle.
“What do you think about that?” we asked.
“It’s ridiculous. They don’t care,” replied Biddle.
The women said they care not only for Louwava but for many others.
“She’s not the only one there that’s going (through) this,” said Karla. “And if we don’t speak up now, then it’s just going to be the same.”
“Same for everybody,” said Biddle.
We asked Blossom Care Center of Cuyahoga Falls multiple times for an on-camera interview. We never heard back.
So, who’s really making sure people like Louwava are being taken care of? And what about the lack of staffing that keeps coming up, in general, among nursing homes as a major problem?
In our next report, you’ll see that getting answers to those questions is not easy. That story is coming up on Thursday, March 26.
OTHER NURSING HOME INVESTIGATION
Last month, in a News 5 Exclusive, we told you about a daughter's claims of a different nursing home that didn’t take care of her mother and that poor care led to her mom’s painful death.
WATCH:
RELATED: Daughter says poor care in nursing home led to her mother's death; facility denies allegations
CMS'S FULL STATEMENT TO NEWS 5
“CMS takes seriously its responsibility to promote safe, high-quality care in the nation’s nursing homes. When serious incidents occur, they are investigated by state survey agencies and may result in enforcement actions, including civil money penalties, denial of payment for new admissions, directed plans of correction, or termination from the Medicare and Medicaid programs.
Facilities selected for the Special Focus Facility (SFF) program are those with a history of poor performance. Once in the program, they are subject to more frequent surveys and progressive enforcement actions. Facilities may graduate from the program after demonstrating sustained, significant improvement, or they may be terminated from participation in Medicare and Medicaid if they fail to improve.
Importantly, this heightened oversight applies to facilities that states select as SFF participants. CMS provides a list of SFF candidates to each state which then select participants from those lists. Being listed as a candidate means the facility has been eligible for increased scrutiny, but the state has selected other providers. The number of SFF participants is limited by resources and funding for this work available to CMS.
CMS continuously evaluates and strengthens the SFF program to better protect nursing home residents. Most recently, in January 2026, CMS revised the selection criteria to emphasize the prevalence of falls when considering facilities for SFF selection, and strengthened oversight by reducing survey predictability: www.cms.gov/medicareprovider-enrollment-and-certificationsurveycertificationgeninfopolicy-and-memos-states-and/revisions-special-focus-facility-sff-program [cms.gov].
CMS appreciated the opportunity to review and provide feedback on OIG’s report; detailed comments are included within: https://oig.hhs.gov/reports/all/2025/cmss-special-focus-facility-program-for-nursing-homes-has-not-yielded-lasting-improvements/ [oig.hhs.gov].
Sections 1819(f)(8) and 1919(f)(10) of the Social Security Act require CMS to conduct an SFF program which focuses on nursing homes that have a persistent record of noncompliance leading to poor quality of care. CMS’ SFF program requires the persistently poorest performing facilities selected in each state to be inspected no less than once every six months and that increasingly progressive enforcement actions are taken when warranted.
The SFF program provides a mechanism for the State Survey Agencies (SAs) and the CMS location to provide additional attention and resources to these facilities to improve their quality of care and protect residents. If a facility consistently fails to demonstrate it can protect the health and safety of its residents, CMS may consider using its longstanding authority to terminate an SFF's provider agreement.
CMS has discretion on decisions regarding graduation and termination based on factors unique to each facility and CMS’ authority to terminate a provider’s participation with the Medicare and/or Medicaid programs. These factors include:
•An evaluation of a facility’s efforts to improve performance;
•The circumstances or details of any noncompliance that occurred (e.g., a facility that technically meets the criteria to graduate, but due to some of the details related to noncompliance, CMS remains concerned about the facility’s quality and does not grant graduation); and
•Situations when discretionary termination may potentially cause issues related to access to care.
For information on how nursing homes are selected as SFFs, please see: www.cms.gov/files/document/qso-23-01-nh-revised-2026-01-28.pdf [cms.gov]. The criteria for graduating from the SFF program can be found in Section IV. The memorandum also explains the agency’s approach to progressive enforcement when SFFs are found to have noncompliance.
More information about the SFF program can be found at: www.cms.gov/medicare/health-safety-standards/quality-safety-oversight-general-information/nursing-homes [cms.gov]. The most recent SFF list and archived lists are available in the downloads section at the bottom of the page. These lists include facilities currently in the SFF program, those that have graduated, and those that have been terminated.
With this publicly available data, you can reference historical SFF lists to see facilities that have graduated and then reference current performance in Care Compare: www.medicare.gov/care-compare/?redirect=true&providerType=NursingHome [medicare.gov]."
