Failure to Timely Report Allegations of Abuse and Misappropriation
Penalty
Summary
The facility failed to ensure timely reporting of alleged violations involving abuse, neglect, exploitation, or misappropriation of resident property as required by regulations. For one resident, a family member reported that the resident's wallet containing $375.35 was missing from a dresser drawer. The incident was reported to the facility administrator, who conducted an internal investigation by interviewing the resident, her family, and staff, and searching the resident's room. However, there was no evidence that the allegation of misappropriation was reported to the State Survey Agency within the required 24-hour timeframe. In a separate incident, another resident's friend reported to the DON that a staff member allegedly called the resident a derogatory name, which constitutes verbal abuse. The administrator was notified, and both the staff member and the resident were interviewed. The staff member denied the allegation, and the resident expressed satisfaction with the outcome of the internal inquiry. Despite this, there was no indication that the allegation of verbal abuse was reported to the State Survey Agency within the required two-hour timeframe. Interviews with facility leadership confirmed that the administrator, who also served as the abuse coordinator, was aware of the reporting requirements but chose not to report the allegations externally because he could not substantiate them through internal investigation. The DON confirmed that all allegations of abuse are reportable within two hours, but the required external notifications were not made in these cases.