Grove at Kirkwood: Deposit Refund Failure After Discharge - MO
The resident, identified in inspection records as Resident 129, was admitted to The Grove at Kirkwood on April 2, 2025. She had non-Alzheimer's dementia, severe enough that a federally required assessment classified her as having severe cognitive impairment. She also had hypertension, asthma, a thyroid disorder, acid reflux, and high cholesterol. Her family paid a $6,000 security deposit upfront, plus $7,398 for her first month's room and board, before she ever moved in.
The admission agreement, drawn up under the facility's previous management company and revised in March 2023, was direct about the deposit: it was interest-free, it was refundable, and it would be returned within 45 days after discharge. The agreement also flagged the deposit as a Medicaid asset, meaning it had to be applied toward monthly charges before a resident could qualify for Medicaid coverage.
She was transferred out on October 30, 2025. A progress note from the day before recorded a staff member calling the family to confirm a 10 a.m. pickup. The transfer happened on schedule. Her daughter followed behind in her own car, carrying her mother's medications and belongings.
Forty-five days came and went. Then sixty. Then ninety.
When inspectors from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services arrived on January 29, 2026, they reviewed the resident's invoices. There was no record of a $6,000 refund.
The facility had changed hands. A new management company had taken over operations, and the business office manager's last day was January 27, the day before inspectors conducted their first interviews. The Regional Nurse Consultant, who spoke with inspectors on January 28, said he had no knowledge of the previous management's deposit requirement. He hadn't known about Resident 129's situation or any attempts, or lack of them, to return her family's money. He suggested the family could contact the previous management company directly. He also noted the facility was still technically operating under the old ownership during the transition. "They wanted to make as few changes as possible," he told inspectors.
The administrator, interviewed the following afternoon, said the funds were never transferred when the new ownership took over. The previous management hadn't handed them over. The new ownership had requested all financial information from the prior company. The administrator said he or she was unaware of this particular resident's deposit, but confirmed that the corporate business office manager already knew and had submitted a request to issue a refund.
A request. Three months after the 45-day deadline had already passed.
The inspection report noted that the current admission agreement, received by inspectors on January 23, 2026, contained no documentation addressing deposits made under the previous contract. The new agreement had no deposit requirement at all. For residents like Resident 129, who paid under the old terms and left before or during the ownership transition, there was simply no written accounting of what happened to their money.
The facility's own admission agreement had been explicit. A $6,000 deposit, interest-free, refunded within 45 days of discharge, less any outstanding balances. The agreement even specified what happened if a resident died before being admitted: room-and-board charges would still accrue for every day the bed was held in reserve. The contract anticipated almost every scenario. It did not anticipate an ownership change that would leave a family waiting months for money they were legally owed.
The Regional Nurse Consultant told inspectors the facility had seen a significant increase in short-term admissions during this period, growing from 10 or 15 skilled residents to around 30. Whether that expansion had anything to do with the administrative gaps around the deposit accounts, the inspection report does not say.
What the report does say is that a woman with severe dementia was moved out of The Grove at Kirkwood on a Thursday morning in late October, her daughter driving separately with her medications and her belongings, and that the $6,000 her family paid to secure her room was still sitting somewhere, unaccounted for, when federal inspectors walked through the door ninety-one days later.
Full Inspection Report
The details above represent a summary of key findings. View the complete inspection report for Grove At Kirkwood, The from 2026-01-29 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: August 17, 2026 · Our methodology
GROVE AT KIRKWOOD, THE in KIRKWOOD, MO was cited for violations during a health inspection on January 29, 2026.
The resident, identified in inspection records as Resident 129, was admitted to The Grove at Kirkwood on April 2, 2025.
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.