Failure to Maintain Hot, Palatable Temperatures for In-Room Meal Service
Penalty
Summary
The deficiency involves the facility’s failure to provide palatable food at an appetizing and safe temperature to residents receiving in-room meal service. Facility policy titled “Assisting the Resident with In-Room Meals” (revised 2013) directed staff to check that hot foods are hot. Two cognitively intact residents, both with diabetes and hypertension and one with additional acute kidney failure, reported that meals served in their rooms were usually cold or not hot enough to be enjoyable. One resident stated staff told her that her meals were not hot because she was the last served due to her room location, and the other resident reported that her meals were never served hot but that she continued to eat them without replacement or reheating. On a kitchen observation, the cook prepared meals while a dietary aide placed plates on trays and covered them with insulated dome covers but did not use the insulated heat-keeper bases/underliners. Nine of 25 meals had dome covers that did not fully cover the plates, leaving food not completely covered to conserve heat, including the meal for one of the affected residents. Six of 25 plates were covered only by heat-keeper bases instead of dome covers, again including a meal for one of the affected residents. During interviews, the dietary aide and dietary supervisor could not explain why heat-keeper bases were used instead of dome covers for some meals and acknowledged there were not enough heat-keeper bases for all residents receiving in-room meals. The Administrator stated she did not know why insulated bases were not being used and had not been informed of any shortage of insulated components.
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