Hidden Valley Center: Unlawful Discharge No Notice - WV
OAK HILL, WV. When Resident #80 was hospitalized on August 31, 2025, the assumption was that they would eventually come back. The hospital said they were ready. Hidden Valley Center said no, and never told the resident that was happening.
The facility's refusal of readmission was not, on its own, what federal inspectors cited. What they cited was everything that came after the decision and didn't happen. No written notice went to the resident. No written notice went to the resident's representative. The state long-term care ombudsman, whose job is to advocate for exactly this kind of situation, never received a copy either. The administrator confirmed it directly to inspectors: no written notice was issued before the facility refused the resident's return.
That confirmation is the center of the inspection report, filed October 16, 2025, following a complaint investigation at Hidden Valley Center, a 77-bed facility in Oak Hill.
The sequence matters. Resident #80 was transferred to the hospital on August 31. The hospitalization extended beyond the facility's bed-hold period, the window during which a facility holds a room for a resident who has been admitted to a hospital. Once that window closed, Hidden Valley Center had a decision to make. They made it. They declined readmission. And then they did not tell the person most affected.
Hospital documentation showed the resident was medically cleared to return. The hospital's care manager later told inspectors that neither the resident nor the representative had received written notification of the facility's refusal. The ombudsman confirmed the same. No notice had come through.
What that notice was supposed to contain is not a bureaucratic formality. It was supposed to include the reason the facility was refusing readmission, the effective date of that decision, and, critically, information about the resident's right to appeal. Without it, Resident #80 had no formal way to challenge what was happening. They were not told they could fight it. They may not have known there was anything to fight.
Discharge planning was never coordinated with the hospital or with community services, inspectors found. That coordination is how a person leaving a nursing home, voluntarily or not, lands somewhere with the support they need. It did not happen here.
The violation was cited at a harm level of minimal harm or potential for actual harm, affecting few residents. The inspection report identifies one resident by number. There is no indication in the report of where Resident #80 went after the hospital, or what support, if any, was arranged.
What the record shows is a person who entered a hospital expecting to return to the place where they lived, was told at some point that they could not, and was never given a written explanation or told they had the right to object. The administrator's confirmation to inspectors was straightforward. The notice was not issued. There was no dispute about that.
The ombudsman's role in this kind of situation is to serve as an independent advocate for nursing home residents when disputes arise over discharge, care, or rights. The ombudsman here learned about the refusal of readmission not through the required notice but through the complaint process that triggered the inspection.
Hidden Valley Center has 77 residents. The report covers one.
Full Inspection Report
The details above represent a summary of key findings. View the complete inspection report for Hidden Valley Center from 2025-10-16 including all violations, facility responses, and corrective action plans.
Additional Resources
Data source: This article is based on inspection data downloaded directly from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) via Medicare.gov. CMS releases inspection reports in bulk; we publish the findings as documented by state surveyors in the official Form CMS-2567 Statement of Deficiencies.
Plan of correction: The CMS report we receive does not include the facility's plan of correction. Facilities submit plans of correction separately to state survey agencies and those responses may not be reflected in CMS data at the time of publication. The absence of a plan of correction in our data does not mean one was not filed. Readers who want information about corrective steps taken are encouraged to contact the facility directly or their state survey agency.
Corrections may have occurred: Inspection reports reflect conditions observed on the date of the survey. Facilities may have implemented corrections, staffing changes, additional training, or other remediation since the report was issued. We report what CMS provides and encourage readers to seek current information from the facility.
Editorial process: Inspection findings are extracted from CMS source documents and synthesized using AI, reviewed for factual accuracy against the original report by our editorial team.
Professional review: All content reviewed by Christopher F. Nesbitt, Sr., NH EMT & BU-trained Paralegal.
Last verified: September 9, 2026 · Our methodology
HIDDEN VALLEY CENTER in OAK HILL, WV was cited for violations during a health inspection on October 16, 2025.
When Resident #80 was hospitalized on August 31, 2025, the assumption was that they would eventually come back.
Health inspections identify deficiencies that facilities must correct. Violations range from minor documentation issues to serious safety concerns. Review the full report below for specific details and facility response.