Henrico County, Virginia — A nursing home in Henrico County has landed on a federal government watch list reserved for the nation’s worst-performing facilities, after state inspectors concluded it had a “systemic failure” to protect residents from abuse — and kept failing even after being given a chance to fix it.
Parham Health Care and Rehabilitation Center was designated a Special Focus Facility candidate by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services as of January 2026, according to industry reports. The program targets nursing homes that, in the agency’s own words, “rarely address underlying systemic problems that give rise to repeated cycles of serious deficiencies” posing risks to residents’ health and safety.
It’s the second facility in Henrico County to earn that distinction. The first — Henrico Health and Rehab — operates under the same Lifeworks Rehab chain, a vendor for Medical Facilities of America nursing homes.
Inspectors Found Repeated Abuse — After the Facility Said It Had Fixed the Problem
The Virginia Department of Health cited Parham in April 2025 for failing to protect seven residents from abuse. The facility submitted a corrective action plan and told regulators it had achieved compliance. Seven weeks later, the violations started again.
When inspectors returned in December 2025, they found Parham had failed to protect 11 residents from physical abuse — mostly attacks by other residents. The report documented multiple instances of residents being punched in the face, leaving bruises and abrasions. One resident, according to the inspection report, asked staff directly: “Why do you keep letting him hit me like that?”
The state concluded the facility had failed to investigate allegations, failed to report incidents on time, and failed to supervise known aggressors. “In multiple instances the facility failed to report the allegations timely, failed to conduct thorough investigations and failed to implement their abuse policy, all of which was previously cited,” the report stated.
VDH returned again in February 2026 and found still more violations — some rising to the level of immediate jeopardy to residents.
A Family Member Says the Problems Went Beyond Inspectors’ Findings
Dominica Williams had a front-row seat to conditions at Parham. Her cousin Maurice Billups was admitted after suffering a stroke in January 2025 and lived there through October of that year.
“It was dirty and chaotic,” she said. “The scent in the place, it just reeks of urine. For a long time, the whole entire summer, there was no air conditioning.” She said she observed cockroaches, ants, and gnats during visits, and that her cousin was frequently found in soiled clothing.
Williams filed a complaint with VDH in August 2025 and said she’d reached out repeatedly to facility administration and a long-term care ombudsman. “I’ve done everything that I can. I don’t know what else to do.” Her cousin has since died. She’s now speaking out, she says, to push for accountability.
“They need to close it down,” she said. “Nobody should be there. Honestly, no patient should be there.”
Facility Says It’s Working on It
A facility spokesperson issued a statement acknowledging the problems. “Parham Healthcare and Rehabilitation Center acknowledges we have faced challenges in providing the level of services expected by our residents and regulators,” the statement read. “Our team is working diligently to improve our delivery of care to a higher standard of quality. We have added staff at the Center to help address these issues.”
CMS rates Parham as a for-profit facility with low overall quality and staffing scores.
The case isn’t isolated. As industry reports have documented, state regulators have increasingly moved to cite nursing homes for concealing or mishandling serious resident safety failures, raising questions about whether existing oversight mechanisms are catching problems fast enough — or doing enough once they do.
For now, Parham remains open and operating as one of Virginia’s five Special Focus Facility candidates, meaning CMS could formally enroll it in the program — triggering increased federal scrutiny — at any time.
