Failure to Honor Resident Dining Preferences During COVID-19 Response
Penalty
Summary
The facility failed to honor residents' preferences for dining location by closing the dining room for nine days following a single employee testing positive for COVID-19. This action affected at least three cognitively intact residents who regularly ate in the dining room and expressed unhappiness and distress over the closure. The facility's COVID-19 Response Program policy, last revised in August 2025, did not define 'outbreak' or provide instructions regarding dining activities during an outbreak, only requiring notification of the health department for suspected or confirmed cases. Despite this, the Administrator and DON reported that they closed the dining room based on what they believed were instructions from the county health department, although no documentation or confirmation of such guidance was found. Interviews with county health officials revealed that an outbreak is defined as two or more cases within a 14-day period, and that the facility was only under surveillance with one positive case, not requiring cessation of group dining. The Communicable Disease Nurse and Public Health Nursing Supervisor both stated that they would not have advised the facility to suspend group dining with only one positive case. The facility's actions were not supported by their own policy or by public health guidance, resulting in the residents' right to choice and self-determination being restricted without appropriate justification.