Failure to Thoroughly Investigate Allegation of Misappropriation
Penalty
Summary
The facility failed to conduct a thorough investigation into an allegation of misappropriation involving a resident who reported a missing Apple watch. The resident, who had intact cognition and multiple medical diagnoses including COPD, anxiety disorder, and chronic respiratory failure, reported the watch missing after returning from a hospital stay. The resident's personal inventory at admission did not list the Apple watch, and staff acknowledged that inventories were not always updated when residents received new items. Multiple employees confirmed seeing the watch in the resident's room prior to the report, and the resident had a locator app on her phone to track the device. However, there was no documentation that the locator app was effectively used, and the missing item was not recorded in the facility's missing items log. The facility's investigation lacked several critical steps as outlined in their abuse policy. There was no evidence of communication with hospital staff to determine if the watch was left there, nor was there documentation of contact with the off-site laundry service beyond an initial message, with no follow-up recorded. Additionally, there was no documentation of interviews with other residents on the same unit to determine if they had knowledge of the missing watch or had experienced similar issues. The facility also did not document any police involvement or statements from other potentially affected residents, as required by their own investigative protocols.