DENVER -- State nursing home inspectors are routinely missing or understating serious deficiencies ranging from malnutrition to severe bedsores to abuse, according to a recent report from the Government Accounting Office.

In Colorado, however, one nursing home is set to be closed because of a string of health code and safety violations.

Grand Oaks Care Center in Lakewood is scheduled to be shut down next month, or after the 85 residents find a new place to live.

“That’s the hardest part of this whole closure is residents leaving their home,” said Jay Moskowitz with Quality Care Management, the company hired by the state to take over after 72 reported violations in the last six months here. ”It was problems ranging from how food is prepared to how medications were passed to the staff’s background,” he said.

Now, Medicare is terminating the home’s certification, effectively closing it down.

”Where the choice is between dislocation and an inconvenience or allowing an immediate jeopardy to continue, it’s pretty much a no-brainer,” said Mike Fierberg with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.

But closing a nursing home is an extremely rare move.

In fact, a recent GAO survey shows nationwide, there is a widespread “understatement of deficiencies” at nursing homes.

In Colorado, Medicare contracts with the State Health Department to inspect homes.

“Are they being adequately inspected? Yes they are. Could there be improvements in the way the system operates? I think that’s always the case and we’re always looking for ways to improve it,” said Fierberg.

For example, he pointed to the Special Focus Facility program, which publicly targets homes that have persistent problems and requires twice the number of inspections.

“We want to prevent this from happening again and most good nursing home operators want the same thing,” said Fierberg.

Meanwhile, Congress is looking at a new bill that would increase fines for nursing homes that violate federal standards.