Failure to Investigate Alleged Misappropriation of Resident Funds
Penalty
Summary
Facility staff failed to initiate and complete a thorough investigation into an allegation of misappropriation of a resident’s funds. The facility’s Abuse Prohibition Protocol Manual directed staff to thoroughly investigate alleged violations of abuse, neglect, exploitation, or mistreatment, to prevent further incidents while an investigation was in process, and to take appropriate corrective action based on findings. The policy also required the Administrator or designee to report allegations to the state survey agency within two hours. A cognitively intact resident, as documented on a Significant Change MDS dated 04/23/25, had multiple fraudulent charges made on their credit card over an extended period. A detective reported that a housekeeper employed by the facility was caught using the resident’s credit card at a gas pump and then using their own personal card inside the gas station. The facility’s prior abuse and neglect investigation records did not contain documentation that an investigation into this misappropriation allegation had been completed. The former Administrator stated that the facility was not made aware of any incidents involving the resident’s credit card until after the resident had been discharged and that an investigation was started, but they did not know what happened to it or whether it was finished. The former Administrator also reported that when they spoke with the housekeeper, the housekeeper denied making the fraudulent charges. The current Administrator, who began employment after the incident period, reported having no knowledge of the incident or any facility-reported incident until the survey team began the annual survey and stated that a detailed investigation and timely report to the state agency would have been expected if a misappropriation report had been made. The facility had a practice of discouraging residents from keeping valuables in their rooms and maintained a lock box in the business office for residents’ valuables, but there was no documented investigation into whether other residents were affected or into the specific misappropriation allegation involving this resident.
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