Failure to Maintain Adequate Room Temperatures for Residents
Penalty
Summary
The facility failed to provide a comfortable and homelike environment by not maintaining adequate heat in resident rooms across three of four hallways reviewed. Facility documentation required ambient temperatures in resident and patient care areas to be maintained between 71 and 81 degrees Fahrenheit, or as required by state or local regulations. However, multiple temperature readings taken in various resident rooms showed temperatures significantly below this range, with some rooms as low as 58.1 degrees Fahrenheit. Residents and their families reported ongoing issues with cold rooms, and several residents confirmed during interviews that their rooms were cold. Staff interviews revealed that the heating system required manual intervention by maintenance to activate heaters in individual rooms, and that many heaters had not been cleaned or turned on. The maintenance director acknowledged that most resident rooms in the affected hallways did not have heaters operating at the time of the survey and that the HVAC system was still awaiting repairs and parts replacement. Staff also reported that there had been heat outages, particularly over weekends, and that residents had complained about the cold. In response, staff provided extra blankets, but residents continued to express discomfort, with one resident stating that it was so cold she did not want to take a shower. The maintenance director further acknowledged that previous maintenance staff had not ensured that resident heaters were properly cleaned and maintained, contributing to the ongoing issue of inadequate room temperatures.