Failure to Facilitate Resident Council Meetings and Resolve Grievances
Penalty
Summary
Facility staff failed to facilitate resident council meetings for three consecutive months, as evidenced by the absence of meeting minutes from early May through the time of the survey. During this period, there was no activities director, and residents, including one who was cognitively intact, reported that they had to organize meetings themselves to discuss concerns and grievances. The facility's own policy required monthly resident council meetings, facilitated and documented by staff, but this was not followed, potentially affecting all residents. Additionally, for two months, the facility did not provide evidence that grievances raised during resident council meetings were resolved. Multiple meeting minutes from November and December showed recurring and new concerns, such as unmade beds, delayed pain medication, lack of housekeeping, missing personal items, and staff-resident respect issues. There was no documentation in subsequent meeting minutes that these grievances were addressed or resolved, despite the facility's policy to make prompt efforts to resolve complaints and inform residents of progress. Interviews with administrative staff confirmed the lack of meeting minutes and the absence of documentation showing grievance resolution for the specified period. The executive director, who had recently started, acknowledged that there was no evidence of resolution for grievances from the months in question and described a process for tracking and resolving concerns that was not in place during the deficiency period.