F0584

E

Cluttered Hallways, Shower Rooms, and Dining Area Undermine Homelike Environment

Laplata, Maryland Survey Completed on 01-09-2026

Penalty

Fine: $17,215

Summary

The deficiency involves the facility’s failure to provide a safe, clean, comfortable, and homelike environment on all nursing units and in common areas. During a tour of the C and D units, surveyors observed a partially disassembled hand sanitizer dispenser lying on a PPE cart, wheelchairs, geriatric chairs, and mechanical lifts stored in multiple hallways, and paper cups and a plastic drip tray placed on handrails. Additional items, including a box of gloves and a green mesh bag containing trash bags, were also stored on handrails outside resident rooms. On the A and B units, surveyors observed a trash bag with linens on the floor beside a resident bed, multiple hand sanitizer drip trays and a partial roll of paper towels on handrails, and a mesh bag with trash bags hanging from a handrail. At the end of one hallway, a bedside commode with an uncovered urine hat was present, and the short A wing hallway contained multiple dressers, boxes, and a large trash can stored near the recreation room. Wheelchairs, geriatric chairs, and mechanical lifts were stored in each hallway on the unit.

In the main dining room, where residents eat meals and participate in activities, large pieces of plastic were hanging from the ceiling, secured with blue painter’s tape, partially covering vending machines and concealing a large assortment of building supplies. On a subsequent tour, an open, uncovered linen cart with linens and wash basins was observed between resident rooms, along with a box of gloves on the handrail and additional wheelchairs, geriatric chairs, a room chair, and mechanical lifts lining the hallways. One wheelchair contained basins, bleach wipes, toiletries, and trash bags on the seat, and a housekeeper had difficulty maneuvering a cleaning cart between these items and a medication cart. An LPN reported that staff store residents’ wheelchairs and geriatric chairs in hallways, resident rooms, and shower rooms. In the C and D shower room, wheelchairs, geriatric chairs, and a shower bed with large trash bags of clothing and shoes occupied shower stalls, while other stalls contained shower chairs and stretchers. In the A and B shower room, men were moving a bed from the shower room, and the women’s side was full of maintenance equipment; another room had a bed with bags of clothing, and the men’s side had three geriatric chairs blocking a back shower stall, leaving only two shower stalls accessible.