P5640

Facility Fails to Meet Minimum Nursing Care Hours

Birchwood Rehabilitation & Healthcare CenterNanticoke, Pennsylvania Survey Completed on 01-02-2025

Summary

The facility failed to consistently meet the required minimum of 3.2 hours of direct nursing care per resident per day, as mandated by state regulation effective July 1, 2024. A review of the facility's staffing levels revealed multiple instances in December 2024 where the nursing care hours fell short of the required minimum. Specifically, on December 14, 15, 19, 20, 23, 24, 25, 27, 28, and 31, the facility provided between 2.82 and 3.19 hours of direct care per resident, which is below the mandated threshold. This deficiency was confirmed during an interview with the Nursing Home Administrator on January 2, 2025.

Plan Of Correction

1. Facility cannot retroactively correct the overall PPD. 2. Director of Nursing/Designee will conduct an initial audit of the next two weeks schedule to determine if the overall PPD is in compliance. 3. Director of Nursing/Designee will re-educate the scheduler on the proper staffing PPD. The facility will hold labor meetings Monday-Friday to verify PPD is met. 4. Director of Nursing/Designee will conduct random audits of overall PPD then monthly for two months thereafter to verify proper PPD. Results of audits will be reviewed by the Quality Assurance Performance Improvement Committee and changes will be made as necessary. 5. Date of compliance will be January 21, 2025.

Penalty

No penalty information released
tooltip icon
The penalty, as released by CMS, applies to the entire inspection this citation is part of, covering all citations and f-tags issued, not just this specific f-tag. For the complete original report, please refer to the 'Details' section.
See other P5640 citations
Failure to Meet Minimum Direct Nursing Care Hours (PPD) on Multiple Days
P5640
Short Summary

The facility did not provide the state-required minimum of 3.20 hours of direct nursing care per resident per day (PPD) on multiple reviewed days. Staffing documents and nursing schedules showed that on several days the calculated PPD fell below 3.20, with values ranging from 2.88 to 3.19 hours of direct care per resident. In an interview, the DON acknowledged that the minimum required PPD hours of direct care were not met on those days.

No penalty information released
tooltip icon
The penalty, as released by CMS, applies to the entire inspection this citation is part of, covering all citations and f-tags issued, not just this specific f-tag. For the complete original report, please refer to the 'Details' section.
Failure to Maintain Required 3.2 Nursing Hours Per Patient Day
P5640
Short Summary

Surveyors determined that the facility did not consistently meet the required minimum of 3.2 hours of direct general nursing care per patient day (PPD) on several reviewed days. Staffing records for selected weeks showed that on four days the total nursing hours fell below the mandated 3.2 PPD threshold. In an interview, the NHA acknowledged that the required PPD staffing ratios were not achieved on those days.

No penalty information released
tooltip icon
The penalty, as released by CMS, applies to the entire inspection this citation is part of, covering all citations and f-tags issued, not just this specific f-tag. For the complete original report, please refer to the 'Details' section.
Failure to Meet Minimum Daily Direct Nursing Care Hours
P5640
Short Summary

Surveyors determined that the facility did not consistently provide the required minimum of 3.2 hours of direct nursing care per resident in multiple 24-hour periods. Review of facility staffing schedules over several weeks showed that, on numerous days, the calculated direct care hours per resident fell below the regulatory threshold. The NHA confirmed during interview that the required daily direct care hours were not met on those days.

No penalty information released
tooltip icon
The penalty, as released by CMS, applies to the entire inspection this citation is part of, covering all citations and f-tags issued, not just this specific f-tag. For the complete original report, please refer to the 'Details' section.
Failure to Meet Minimum Nursing Care Hours
P5640
Short Summary

Facility staff did not provide the required minimum of 3.2 hours of direct nursing care per resident per day on 16 out of 21 days, as confirmed by review of schedules and census data and acknowledged by the NHA.

No penalty information released
tooltip icon
The penalty, as released by CMS, applies to the entire inspection this citation is part of, covering all citations and f-tags issued, not just this specific f-tag. For the complete original report, please refer to the 'Details' section.
Failure to Meet Minimum Nursing Care Hours
P5640
Short Summary

A review of nursing schedules showed that the facility did not provide the required minimum of 3.2 hours of direct nursing care per resident on three days within a 21-day period, with care hours falling below the mandated threshold on each of those days.

No penalty information released
tooltip icon
The penalty, as released by CMS, applies to the entire inspection this citation is part of, covering all citations and f-tags issued, not just this specific f-tag. For the complete original report, please refer to the 'Details' section.
Failure to Meet Minimum Nursing Care Hours
P5640
Short Summary

The facility did not provide the required minimum of 3.2 hours of direct nursing care per resident per day on two reviewed days, as confirmed by staffing records and the Nursing Home Administrator.

No penalty information released
tooltip icon
The penalty, as released by CMS, applies to the entire inspection this citation is part of, covering all citations and f-tags issued, not just this specific f-tag. For the complete original report, please refer to the 'Details' section.
Citation search

Search every citation & Plan of Correction

Go to search
Citation watch

Track new serious citations across Pennsylvania

Get a heads-up on the newest immediate-jeopardy (J–L) citations in Pennsylvania — where surveyors are focused right now.

Free · about one email a month

Trusted data from CMS and state health departments

Every citation, penalty and Plan of Correction is sourced from public CMS records (latest release July 29, 2026) and official state health department websites — never guesswork.

In your survey window? See what surveyors are citing.

The Survey-Prep Report maps your facility's risk from 12 months of CMS and state citation data — what's being cited around you and what to check first. $129 one-time.

Get the Survey-Prep Report
An unhandled error has occurred. Reload 🗙