Failure to Maintain Effective Pest Control Program
Penalty
Summary
The facility failed to maintain an effective pest control program as required by its own policy, resulting in multiple incidents involving ants in resident care areas. For one resident with paralysis and a Foley catheter, emergency medical transport staff observed ants on the catheter during a hospital transfer. Nursing progress notes confirmed the resident was located in the 200 nursing unit at the time. Another resident was found by a visitor to have ants crawling on their body and in their bed, with the visitor reporting similar observations to staff on two separate occasions. Service request forms documented additional ant sightings on the 400 and 500 nursing units, including ants on a call button cord and in resident rooms. Housekeeping staff reported seeing ants in the 200, 300, 400, and 500 nursing units and communicated these findings to both maintenance and the facility administrator. The administrator acknowledged that the current pest control service might be insufficient to address the ongoing ant problem. The facility's pest control policy, last revised in May 2008, requires an ongoing program to keep the building free of insects and rodents, but the documented incidents and staff interviews indicate that this policy was not effectively implemented.