F0880

E

Failure to Timely Report Influenza Outbreak to State Health Department

Inglewood, California Survey Completed on 02-25-2026

Penalty

No penalty information released

Summary

The facility failed to report an influenza A outbreak to the California Department of Public Health (CDPH) within 24 hours as required by its Unusual Occurrence Reporting policy and the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health (LAC DPH) Influenza and other Respiratory Virus Diseases Outbreak Toolkit. Resident 1, who had diagnoses including heart failure, stage four chronic kidney disease, and COPD, was cognitively intact, self-responsible, and had capacity to make medical decisions per the admission record, history and physical, and MDS. Resident 1 had a positive influenza antigen test result documented on 2/2/2026 at 12:00 p.m. Resident 8, with diagnoses including diabetes mellitus, hypertensive heart disease, and pleural effusion, was documented as capable of understanding and making decisions, with the MDS indicating moderate cognitive impairment, and also had a positive influenza antigen test result on 2/2/2026 at 12:00 p.m.

During interview and record review with the Infection Preventionist (IP), it was confirmed that the LAC DPH toolkit defined an outbreak as two or more laboratory-confirmed influenza cases identified within 72 hours of each other and required such outbreaks, as well as sudden increases in acute respiratory illness cases, to be reported. The facility’s Unusual Occurrence Reporting policy required epidemic outbreaks or prevalence of communicable disease to be reported via telephone to appropriate agencies within 24 hours, and the IP job description required reporting all reportable diseases to the state health department. Despite having two confirmed influenza cases that met the outbreak definition on 2/2/2026, the facility did not report the outbreak to CDPH within 24 hours, as acknowledged by both the IP and the Administrator, resulting in delayed investigation by CDPH.