HENRICO COUNTY, Va. — Canterbury Rehabilitation and Healthcare Center has been cited with serious violations after inspectors found the facility failed to protect multiple residents from abuse by a known aggressor.
One resident was hospitalized as a result of the abuse, according to inspectors, and reportedly died shortly after the incident. However, the Henrico County nursing home is disputing the inspectors' findings.
According to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), Canterbury is part of the Marquis Health Services chain. It has a one-out-of-five-star overall rating, which is much below average. It also has one-star ratings for health inspections and staffing and a 4-star rating in quality measures. Those three categories make up the overall rating.
In a statement, administrator Veronica Haskins said, "The facility holds multiple professional accreditations, serves as a preferred provider for regional health systems, and is making significant investments in renovations and upgrades to further strengthen care capabilities."
An April 2026 inspection of Canterbury by the Virginia Department of Health (VDH) resulted in the most serious kind of violations known as immediate jeopardy.
Inspectors said the nursing home failed to supervise a resident with known aggressive behaviors, leading to the abuse of four other residents from March 2024 through December 2025. All of the incidents occurred in the memory care unit.
In the most recent case, inspectors said the aggressive resident punched a woman who was on a blood thinner in the eye, causing swelling and bruising, on December 30, 2025. She was not immediately sent to the hospital, according to the report.
The next day, according to a staff interview with inspectors, the woman was unresponsive with a critically high blood pressure and heart rate. She was then transferred to an emergency room.
Her family reported to inspectors that she suffered a "significant brain bleed from being hit in the eye and being on a blood thinner." She died in the early hours of January 1, 2026, according to VDH's interview with a family member.
The inspection report did not include an independently verified cause of death.
According to the report, a police officer was called the day of the abuse but stated there was "not much he could do when it involved people who were cognitively impaired."
Haskins said Canterbury is formally challenging VDH's immediate jeopardy finding through a process known as an informal dispute resolution. She said the resident cited as being abused "received well-managed care" and believes the citation was issued in error.
VDH spokesperson Logan Anderson said the agency stands by the cited deficiency and has referred its findings to CMS for possible federal enforcement action.
At this time, Anderson said the informal dispute resolution process is still pending.
Nicole Lewis, whose grandmother was a resident in Canterbury's memory care unit last May, said she had concerns about the level of supervision there.
"The first thing I would say is chaotic. It was kind of overwhelming," Lewis said. "Every time we went, they had to find her. They never knew where she was at."
Lewis said her family decided to take her grandmother out of the nursing home after just over a week. She said she was sometimes found in other residents' rooms, dressed in clothes that weren't hers, and on one visit, her room was in "disarray" with belongings missing.
She said she was appalled by the abuse citations.
"I think that is absolutely ridiculous, because these are people who can't take care of themselves. Your job is to supervise them, like, your job is to have accountability for what's going on with these people," Lewis said. "Canterbury had these violations. What's next? Because people are still in there, like, nothing is changing."
Inspectors also cited a failure to prevent pressure ulcers after staff left a tourniquet on a resident's arm for multiple days, resulting in harm to the resident.
The director of nursing said the wound was preventable and that if staff bathed and changed the resident's gown, they should have noticed the tourniquet.
Inspectors reported that Canterbury initiated corrective action plans in response to violations, including auditing other residents to identify further risks and educating staff.
CMS has not answered whether federal sanctions will be imposed in connection with this inspection. Anderson said VDH did not take any state-level enforcement actions.
Related nursing home also cited for 'immediate jeopardy'
A second Marquis Health Services facility, Southampton Rehabilitation and Healthcare Center in Richmond, was also recently cited with immediate jeopardy violations.
Those citations followed a February 2026 inspection that found the facility unsafely discharged two residents who required daily care to unlicensed independent living locations.
Inspectors said the discharges occurred without a "documented basis for the discharge, a prior discharge plan, identification or verification of needed care/services, involvement of the interdisciplinary team, and preparation/orientation for the residents."
In one case, the resident reportedly was found wandering the streets with their belongings six days later and had to be taken to an emergency room by authorities. The resident's legal guardian reported to inspectors that they did not know about the discharge from Southampton.
According to the report, the facility addressed the citations by pausing discharges to lower levels of care, reviewing prior discharges, and implementing new discharge protocols.
Southampton disputed these findings as well. Administrator Ron Tealakh said the cited discharges were "safe and appropriate."
Anderson said VDH's findings were upheld during an informal dispute resolution. CMS data shows a federal fine of nearly $17,000 was imposed in connection to this inspection.
"These cases highlight the importance of ensuring that the regulatory framework is strong, responsive, and effective in protecting residents. For this reason, VDH is reviewing current and potential future tools to develop a comprehensive strategy to improve the care provided to our seniors," Anderson said.
Administrators for both facilities told CBS 6 in separate statements, "We take resident health and safety seriously and care for individuals with complex medical needs every day. While patient confidentiality limits what we can share publicly, our skilled caregivers consistently deliver high‑quality, compassionate care in accordance with advanced skilled nursing standards."
Lewis said she believes the level of care being provided in facilities needs major improvement.
"I think it is very poor quality. If I had to grade it, it would be 'F' minus," she said.
Share your nursing home stories with the CBS 6 Investigative Team: Email Melissa Hipolit and Tyler Layne
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