(Iowa Capital Dispatch) – An assisted living center in Iowa recently used a video camera owned by the family of a female resident to record staff members ignoring her.
The use of resident-owned cameras in nursing homes has been a hotly debated topic in Iowa, with advocacy groups repeatedly calling for legislation that would ban state-licensed nursing homes from using such devices.
Industry lobbyists have vigorously opposed the bill over the past decade, but the state Legislature has repeatedly failed to approve it.
However, some nursing homes and assisted living centers in Iowa have company policy that allows residents or their families to install video surveillance cameras in their rooms or apartments, and in some cases, the facilities themselves may utilize the resulting video.
One such company is Better Living Health Care Services, which operates several different assisted living centers in Iowa, according to state records. Records show Better Living employee Abigail Reed worked at one of the company’s assisted living centers last year, where she was tasked with checking on residents and assisting them with daily activities.
The company alleges that as part of her job, Reed was required to visually check on each resident at least once every two hours.
State records show that on Oct. 21, 2025, Reed was working a night shift that started at 10 p.m. and ended at 6 a.m. the next day. He was recorded checking on each resident at least once every two hours at the end of each shift. When staff arrived at 6 a.m., they found a female resident of the center lying on the floor.
A short time later, the resident’s relatives contacted Better Living about surveillance camera footage the family had kept in the resident’s room, according to state records. The family said the video showed the resident getting out of bed at 2 a.m., falling to the floor and remaining there for four hours, unable to get up.
After Better Living obtained copies of the video footage from residents’ families, it fired Reed for failing to verify residents and falsifying records, charges he denies. A judge subsequently ruled that she had committed gross misconduct related to her job, and she was denied unemployment benefits.
Brenda Smith, executive director of Better Living’s Apple Valley Assisted Living Center in Clear Lake, testified at Reed’s recent unemployment benefit hearing, according to state records. Mr. Reed, who declined to comment for this story and referred all questions on the matter to company officials, could not be reached for comment Wednesday.
Earlier this year, the Iowa Legislature considered Senate Review Bill 3080. The bill would give Iowa nursing home residents the right to have their rooms electronically monitored using video cameras (also known as “granny cams”) placed inside the room with the consent of their roommates.
The bill was scheduled for consideration at the January meeting of the Iowa Senate Technology Committee, chaired by Republican Sen. Charlie McClintock of Alburnett. However, the bill was removed from the agenda just before the session began. McClintock later said the bill was taken off the table after the committee determined it did not have the support of a majority of members.
A similar bill being considered in the Iowa House, House File 664, was introduced in February but has not yet been considered. Both bills missed Congress’ “funnel” deadlines for committee approval and are considered dead in session unless action is taken to add the language as an amendment to another bill or revive it as a guidance bill.
Cameras record death and neglect in Iowa home
State inspection and unemployment records show that Iowa facilities where cameras are installed are using them to document abuse and neglect.
Death of Bondurant: In 2022, a caregiver at Courtyard Estates, an assisted living facility in Bondurant, Iowa, was charged with murder after a surveillance camera caught her wandering around the facility for hours without checking on a woman who had froze to death on the ground outside. The worker later pleaded guilty to a reduced charge of adult abuse of a dependent.
Woodward’s death: In 2025, the inspector general accused the state-run Woodward Resource Center of failing to properly supervise a resident after a 22-year-old resident died during a night shift. The home’s video surveillance system revealed that staff failed to perform necessary checks on the man during the night and did not immediately administer CPR when he was found unresponsive.
Ignoring Marion: Also last year, a caregiver at The Views of Marion was sanctioned by the licensing board for her actions while working a night shift at her home. Regulators claimed the nursing home’s video surveillance system showed the employee was in the facility for less than three hours of a 12-hour shift while serving as the only nurse on duty caring for about 40 residents.
Death of Warcon: Also in 2025, state inspectors relied on surveillance video to document neglect that led to the death of a resident at Northgate Care Center in Waukon. Inspectors said Northgate staff mistakenly gave the woman medication intended for another resident, and then surveillance footage showed the resident collapse to the floor as three staff members stood by and then failed to check on her injuries.
Nationally, at least 22 states have passed laws regarding the use of cameras by residents in nursing homes, and at least 16 of those states give residents an explicit right to use such cameras, regardless of the facility’s corporate policy. Some states, such as New Jersey, have gone further and launched camera rental programs through the state attorney general’s office.
Other states, like Iowa, now allow nursing home operators to prohibit the use of resident-owned cameras.
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