Residents Denied Access to Personal Funds Following Ownership Change
Penalty
Summary
The facility failed to ensure that residents' personal funds held by the facility were accessible to them, affecting 40 residents. After a change in facility ownership, residents were unable to access their personal funds, as confirmed by interviews with residents, the Administrator in Training, and the Business Office Manager (BOM). The BOM reported that since the week following the ownership change, the facility ran out of petty cash and was unable to fulfill resident fund requests. A check containing the combined personal funds of 40 residents, totaling $21,594.90, had not been signed or cashed, preventing the transfer of funds from the previous to the new ownership. As a result, residents could not access their money for personal purchases or needs. Multiple residents expressed frustration and filed grievances due to their inability to access their funds. One resident was visibly upset and reported not having access to his money since the new company took over. Grievance forms from two other residents indicated dissatisfaction and distress over the lack of access to their funds. Facility policy requires that resident fund withdrawals be distributed within a reasonable timeframe, but this was not followed due to the unresolved transfer of funds and lack of available petty cash.