Grove at Kirkwood: Ownership Chaos Leaves Bills Unpaid - MO
This is what inspectors found at The Grove at Kirkwood in late January and early February 2026, roughly five months after new ownership took over the 711 South Kirkwood Road nursing home.
The oxygen supply company told inspectors the facility's balance had reached $789.11, well past the 60-day payment term. The last payment had been made on August 26, 2025, before the ownership change. Nothing since. The food vendor, interviewed on February 10, said the facility owed $8,053.13 covering September 2025 through the end of January 2026. Five straight months without a payment. The pest control company, also interviewed that day, said the facility owed $1,050 for November, December, and January, and was still sending technicians out twice a month.
The Plant Operations Manager described what the transition had actually looked like from the inside. Housekeeping and maintenance staff had been cut. Where there had been three additional maintenance workers, now there was one. He was filling in for housekeeping himself. Supplies, including something as basic as floor cleaner, had to be ordered through corporate. "There was so much going on and he was pulled in different directions," the inspection report noted. "The transition has been hard on the residents and families. Some of the residents have been there for years."
Since the ownership change, the facility had cycled through three administrators and two directors of nursing. Administrator B, interviewed on January 29, said regulatory duties had not been handed off between administrators during those transitions. The assistant administrator or administrator on duty at each moment, along with corporate staff, was supposed to handle compliance. Whether that actually happened was unclear. Administrator B said the current director of nursing was still working on building a system for staff to follow, something to ensure continuity of care given how frequently people had been leaving.
The director of nursing position itself had become a casualty of the chaos. The inspection report noted, without further detail, that the DON "got burned out." Residents were complaining about staffing. The facility was spending approximately $20,000 a month on agency staff just to meet minimum requirements. Two registered nurses had recently started, but the previous weekend had been a problem for RN coverage. Administrator B acknowledged they were heavily dependent on agency workers to keep the floors staffed.
The beautician's situation illustrated how far the financial disorder had spread. She told inspectors she had been paid on a Friday in January, but not the full amount owed. She had not been paid at all in December 2025. Her arrangement was $25 per Medicaid resident. For private-pay residents, she was expected to collect payment herself, but the facility wouldn't help her contact families. She was left to figure it out alone.
When state health officials tried to reach the facility's corporate business office manager on February 5 and again on February 6, they left messages both times. Neither call was returned.
The inspection report does not describe what happened to residents who needed oxygen. It does not say whether the pest control gaps created conditions that affected anyone living there. It records what vendors were owed, what managers said, and what the Plant Operations Manager called it: hard on the residents and families, some of whom had lived there for years, watching maintenance staff disappear and administrators rotate through while the bills piled up and nobody at corporate answered the phone.
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 oxygen supply company told inspectors the facility's balance had reached $789.11, well past the 60-day payment term.
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.