Failure to Timely Pay Essential Service Vendors Resulting in Past Due Balances
Penalty
Summary
The facility failed to administer its operations in a manner that ensured timely payment of essential service vendors, resulting in significant past due balances. Specifically, the facility accumulated a four-month overdue balance with the water vendor, leading to a disconnection notice, and a three-month overdue balance with the fire vendor for services provided in previous months. Invoices and disconnection notices were received and forwarded to Accounts Payable, but payments were not made in a timely manner. The Administrator was aware of the outstanding balances and had forwarded the bills and notices to Accounts Payable, but did not have authority to make payments directly. The COO confirmed that bill payments were determined in weekly meetings between Accounts Payable and the CEO, with emergency payments made only in urgent situations. The CEO stated that bills were sent to an independent company for review and payment, and was unaware of the extent of the past due balances until after the disconnection notices were issued. The water vendor had issued a disconnect notice for non-payment, and the fire vendor considered disconnecting the facility's fire alarm and placing it on fire watch due to the overdue balance. Despite these overdue accounts, water services remained active at the time of the survey. The facility was unable to provide a policy regarding vendor payment prior to the survey exit.