Deficient Laundry Area Sanitation and Maintenance
Penalty
Summary
The facility failed to maintain a safe and sanitary environment in the laundry area, as evidenced by multiple observations and staff interviews. In the clean linen processing room, the ceiling had flaking and missing paint directly above residents' clean laundry, and the clean linen folding counter was cluttered with non-laundry items such as a staff purse, a laptop, and a desk organizer. In the dirty laundry washing area, resident linen and clothes in bags were stacked on the floor, causing clutter and blocking access to the staff hand-washing sink, the eye-wash station, and the washer laundry-soap refill. Additionally, both the ceiling and walls in the laundry areas had chipped and missing paint. Staff interviews confirmed awareness of the inappropriate conditions. Administrative staff acknowledged that paint flaking and chipping near clean laundry presented an infection concern and that only clean laundry should be on the folding counter. Maintenance staff were unaware of the missing paint in the laundry areas, and housekeeping staff reported that a washer had been out of service, leading to a backlog of laundry. Housekeeping staff also stated they were unaware that non-laundry items should not be on the folding counter. The facility's preventive maintenance policy assigned responsibility to the maintenance director for ensuring the building and equipment were maintained in a safe and operable manner.