OTTUMWA — The Iowa Department of Natural Resources (DNR) was notified on July 10 of a fish kill on the lower Des Moines River.

DNR staff from the Fisheries Bureau investigated and found an estimated 20,000 dead shovelnose sturgeon in a 60 mile river stretch from near Ottumwa to Farmington in southeast Iowa. Freshly dead fish collected on July 11 were submitted to Iowa State University for testing.

The investigation began with determining the start and end of the fish kill. DNR fisheries staff collected water temperatures and dissolved oxygen levels at nine locations along the fish kill path and sampled for ammonia. Using the American Fisheries Society (AFS) guidelines, staff started counting dead fish at bridge accesses and then expanded their count to free-flowing areas.

“We didn’t find low levels of dissolved oxygen or high levels of ammonia which is usually indicative of some sort of spill, so it comes down to high water temperatures coupled with the low flows that we are experiencing at present.  Water temperatures are in the upper 80s and exceed levels known to cause shovelnose sturgeon mortality,” said Mark Flammang, Iowa DNR fisheries biologist. “It was also limited to shovelnose sturgeon; no other species were impacted.”

Shovelnose sturgeon are relatively abundant below Ottumwa, as many of these fish move from the Mississippi River into this section of the Des Moines River during the spring and summer. “Ottumwa has one of the largest populations of shovelnose sturgeon in the world,” explains Flammang.

The shovelnose sturgeon population is a unique resource in the Des Moines River. “Many of these fish are over 40 years old. It will take several years to repopulate this long-living fish,” Flammang said.

This section of the Des Moines River has had sizable fish kills over the years caused by low water levels and high water temperatures, with the most recent in 2012.  DNR fisheries staff partnered with Missouri Conservation to research the cause of that kill and learn more about the effects to shovelnose sturgeon populations.

If you see dead or stressed fish at a lake or river, call the DNR’s 24-hour spill line at 515-725-8694 as soon as possible. Quick reporting can help DNR staff identify the cause of a fish kill and potentially stop a fish kill in progress.

By Clark Kauffman (Iowa Capital Dispatch)

An Iowa nursing home administrator who was the subject of a criminal investigation for allegedly evicting a man to the street in a wheelchair and neglecting a seriously ill resident of the same facility will not face any restrictions on her nurse’s license, state regulators have ruled.

After recently charging Aimee Crow of Hedrick with one count of failing to assess or evaluate a patient, the Iowa Board of Nursing agreed to settle the case by ordering Crow to complete 14.5 hours of continuing education on professional accountability and medical documentation. If she fails to complete the ordered educational courses, she risks a license suspension or other restrictions on her practice.

According to state inspection records, Crow was working as a nurse and as the administrator of Sigourney’s Windsor Place Senior Living Campus last November when a female resident complained of a headache. The woman’s condition allegedly worsened throughout the day and, according to inspectors, several residents and workers at the home told Crow the woman was screaming in pain and was asking to be taken to a hospital.

Two employees allegedly told Crow the woman was yelling, “I was a nurse, I know they can help me … This is not normal.” Crow, who was the charge nurse on duty at that time, allegedly failed to assess the woman or take any other action, even when the woman was showing symptoms of a stroke.

The next day, the woman was unresponsive, unable to talk, couldn’t see out of her right eye and couldn’t move her right side.

One of the aides later told inspectors of the woman’s condition that morning. “There was nothing in her eyes, she was like a vegetable,” the aide reported. Two days before, on a Monday, the aide said, the woman “was up, independent and in the dining room talking, and normal – and by Wednesday, she was vegetable.”

The state reports don’t indicate whether the woman survived the incident or was transferred elsewhere. The reports indicate the woman most likely suffered a stroke.

When interviewed by inspectors, Crow reportedly acknowledged that staff members had come to her about the resident having a “headache,” but said no one ever told her the woman wanted to go to the hospital. She allegedly told state inspectors she never assessed the woman’s condition, consulted a physician or notified the resident’s family of the situation.

In a separate incident dating back to August 2022 at Windsor Place, a male resident objected to Crow’s insistence that he share a room with another resident. The home’s social worker told inspectors that Crow yelled at the man, wouldn’t let him speak, and kept saying, “You are getting a roommate, or you are leaving against medical advice. What’s it going to be?”

A sheriff’s deputy was summoned to help escort the man outside after a maintenance worker stacked the man’s belongings outside the door in trash bags.

The man, who was insulin dependent, told inspectors he wasn’t given any medications and had nowhere to go. He said he called his nephew and got a ride to his ex-wife’s home, where he fell down the steps and was taken by ambulance to a local hospital.

Crow reportedly told state inspectors she was the man’s niece. Asked why she felt it was necessary for the man to share a room when there were vacant rooms at the facility, she allegedly said she couldn’t recall as it was “a long time ago.”

Crow, who has also served as the administrator at Keota Health Care Center, declined to comment when asked about the state’s findings earlier this year. Her nursing home administrator’s license remains in good standing with no public record of any discipline.

The Iowa Board of Nursing recently charged Crow with one count of failing to assess or evaluate a patient – a charge that relates to the November 2022 incident with the female resident of Windsor Place, although board documents don’t name the facility.

According to the board, Crow said she checked on the woman three or four times during her shift, contradicting staffs claims to the contrary and the state inspectors’ assertion that Crow admitted not having checked on the woman. Crow allegedly acknowledged she did not document any findings from her checks on the resident or notify the woman’s family or physician of any concerns, according to the board.

Iowa Department of Inspections, Appeals and Licensing spokeswoman Stefanie Bond said in January that the agency’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit – which investigates allegations of dependent-adult abuse as well as fraud – was then conducting a criminal investigation related to the inspectors’ findings at Windsor Place.

It appears from court records that no criminal charges were ever filed in the case.