Failure to Provide Residents with Requested Alternative Menu Choices
Penalty
Summary
Surveyors determined that the facility failed to ensure residents received their chosen alternative menu items, as required to support resident self-determination and choice. During a dining observation, one resident's dinner tray included two meal tickets: one indicating a request for a peanut butter & jelly sandwich with extra gravy and hot tea, but the tray instead contained steak and rice without gravy, and no sandwich or hot tea. This demonstrated that the resident's specific meal preferences were not honored. Interviews with other residents at the same table revealed similar issues. One resident reported not always receiving requested alternative meals, despite submitting a meal ticket and later handing it directly to kitchen staff. Another resident stated they no longer submit alternative food requests because their previous requests were not fulfilled. A third resident indicated the system for requesting menu alternatives was ineffective, leading them to make verbal requests directly to kitchen staff instead of using the formal process. The Certified Dietary Manager Consultant confirmed that the current system for handling alternative meal requests was not effective.