F0602

E

Failure to Safeguard Resident Debit Card Resulting in Misappropriation of Funds

Edinburg, Texas Survey Completed on 01-29-2026

Penalty

No penalty information released

Summary

The deficiency involves the facility’s failure to protect a resident’s personal funds and belongings, specifically the resident’s debit card, from misappropriation. The resident was a 58-year-old male with bilateral below-knee amputations, morbid obesity, diabetes, and a need for assistance with personal care. His quarterly MDS showed a BIMS score of 13, indicating intact cognition. The resident kept his wallet, containing his driver’s license, insurance cards, Social Security card, and debit card, in a safe in the Business Office Manager’s (BOM) office at his own request. He reported that he would request his wallet or debit card from the BOM when he needed to make purchases and that he had never allowed anyone to use his debit card or loaned money to staff.

According to the resident, the last time he requested his debit card was in late November, when he wanted a cinnamon roll from a vending machine located in the employee lounge. The BOM gave him his debit card, and he then handed it to the Assistant Business Office Manager (ABOM) to purchase the snack. After receiving the cinnamon roll, the resident returned to his room while the ABOM retained possession of the debit card, telling him she would return it to the BOM. The resident stated that in early January, the BOM informed him that his bank account had been drained and that he had a negative balance, leaving him without funds to pay his applied income for that month. The resident questioned how this could have occurred if only the BOM and ABOM had access to his debit card and suspected the ABOM had used it without his permission.

The BOM confirmed that the resident’s wallet was stored in a safe in her office and that the resident regularly requested his debit card to buy cinnamon rolls from the employee lounge vending machine, typically asking the ABOM to make the purchase. She recalled that at the end of November the resident requested his debit card and gave it to the ABOM, but she did not remember whether the ABOM returned the card. The BOM acknowledged that prior to December there was no system in place to ensure the resident’s debit card was returned to the safe, and she did not track the card’s return because she trusted the ABOM and was busy. In early January, when the BOM attempted to collect the resident’s applied income, the transaction was declined, prompting a review of the resident’s bank account. Bank records showed multiple unauthorized transactions in December totaling $1,340.16, and the resident disputed all but three of them. The facility’s internal investigation, including review of a receipt from a local oil change company bearing the ABOM’s name, her vehicle information, the amount charged, and the resident’s debit card number, led the Administrator to substantiate that the ABOM had used the resident’s debit card without consent, resulting in misappropriation of the resident’s funds.