(Radio Iowa) — Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley says he’s gotten a response from federal investigators in a case where a woman died at a Buffalo Center nursing home. Senator Grassley says the administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services responded to his request for more information on the February 27th death of Virginia Olthoff at the Timely Mission Nursing Home in Buffalo Center. State investigators say she was in pain and may not have had water several days before her death. C-M-S has fined the nursing home more than 77-thousand dollars. Grassley says the C-M-S administrator told him in a letter that the nursing home has had 19 complaint investigations conducted in the past five years and has “come back into substantial compliance with program requirements” after each one.

The Republican Senator says he appreciates the response, but says he is concerned about the Timely Mission Nursing Home’s compliance history and the sheer number of complaint investigations. He says the reported events are “extremely troubling” and call into question whether the facility has the ability to make lasting changes. He says he will continue to press for more information on this case and others like it.