Failure to Provide Adequate Medically-Related Social Services
Penalty
Summary
The facility failed to provide medically-related social services necessary for residents to attain or maintain their highest practicable physical, mental, and psychosocial well-being. One resident reported that care plan meetings were only attended by the social worker, with no other staff present to discuss care or address multiple concerns. The resident experienced missed medical appointments for over a year due to the loss of a wheelchair that fit into available transportation, and the replacement wheelchair was too large for the facility's only taxi service. Although the resident was approved for a power wheelchair, it was never received due to an unpaid bill. The resident also reported a lack of support for discharge planning to return to their home state and was not provided assistance in recovering lost personal documents or accessing personal funds after the facility became the resident's representative payee. Documentation showed the resident was cognitively intact, yet the facility submitted paperwork to Social Security indicating the resident was incapable of managing finances, without corresponding progress notes or communication to the resident about this change. Another resident expressed a desire to return to the community but was unable to do so due to lack of access to personal funds and was not informed about available programs such as the Waiver Program. The social services staff indicated that the resident's family was receiving survivor's benefits and paying privately, but no further assistance or documentation was provided to support the resident's expressed interest in community discharge. The care plan noted the need to assess the resident's preference for community return, but there was no evidence of follow-up or action taken in response to the resident's requests. A third resident, who had a court-appointed guardian, reported dissatisfaction with the guardian's support and expressed a desire for their granddaughter to become their power of attorney or guardian. The resident stated that requests for assistance in changing guardianship were met with dismissals about excessive paperwork. Documentation confirmed the resident was cognitively intact and had communicated their wishes, but there was no evidence of effective social services intervention to facilitate the requested change. These findings collectively demonstrate the facility's failure to provide adequate social services to support residents' rights, preferences, and access to necessary resources.