It’s probably no surprise that the owners of Lake View Manor nursing home in Lawrence will fight a state and federal order that would terminate the home’s Medicaid payments and force its closure.

The owners can appeal the decision to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Perhaps they will be vindicated or will at least manage to keep the home open, but given Lake View’s history of violations and complaints, that seems questionable.

Cases like this one are a reminder of how important it is for state and federal regulators to keep a watchful eye on an industry that serves people who too often are unable to advocate for themselves or even effectively monitor their own care and well-being.

Almost all of Lake View’s 32 residents are poor and depend on Medicaid to pay for their care. Any kind of move will be hard on the residents, but in this case, it may be the lesser of the evils. Lake View has been cited repeatedly in recent years for shortcomings ranging from poor care and record-keeping to inadequate efforts to prevent bedsores.

The home was cited after a February inspection for 38 deficiencies. When inspectors returned on April 6, 22 of those deficiencies remained, along with four new ones. Lake View’s record had caused it to be ranked among the three poorest nursing homes in the state by Kansas Advocates for Better Care (the organization originally known as Kansans for Improvement of Nursing Homes and founded by the late Petey Cerf of Lawrence).

Former staff members – of which there were many because poor working conditions prompted high turnover – reported that the home’s day to day operations were dictated by one of the owners, a man who is not licensed as a nursing home administrator. It’s possible the home could remain open without Medicaid support, but it seems unlikely that anyone who could afford to pay privately for nursing home care would choose Lake View.

An appeal still is possible, but there has been ample – perhaps too ample – process leading up to the decision to withdraw Medicaid funding for Lake View. Reports of substandard care at this home should make every Kansas both queasy and angry. State and federal officials may be doing everything they can to end this situation, but cases like Lake View make us wonder whether nursing home laws need to be strengthened to prevent such long-term problems.

Any one of us may someday be forced to seek nursing home care for a family member or for ourselves. We can only hope that groups like Kansas Advocates for Better Care will continue to push government agencies to make sure the care provided by all of those homes is both professional and humane.