DES MOINES, Iowa (KCAU) — A Sioux City care facility has been fined $10,000 for the death of a resident in December 2022.

Courage Homes on Morningside Avenue is an intermediate care facility for individuals with intellectual disabilities owned by Mid-Step Services. The facility received a visit from the Iowa Department of Inspections and Appeals in February 2023, which investigated the death of the resident.

The report stated that the resident refused lunch and dinner on November 26 and 27, 2022. He then complained of stomach pain daily through December 1, 2022, when he became unresponsive in the morning. He died at the hospital later that afternoon.

The night before the resident’s death, the report stated that he cried and pulled the call button regularly. He was then moved to the living room out of reach of a call button.

The death certificate stated that the resident died from hypovolemic shock as a result of a twisted/strangulated bowel. The resident was 65 years old and was diagnosed with moderate intellectual disability, epilepsy, gastroesophageal reflux disease, depressive disorder, constipation, kyphosis, dysphagia, osteoporosis and a hiatal hernia.

The report stated that the facility violated an Iowa code by failing “to ensure implementation of needed interventions to promote client health and safety.” They were fined $10,000 to be paid to the state.