Failure to Honor Resident’s Right to Receive Chosen Visitors
Penalty
Summary
Surveyors identified a failure to honor a resident’s right to receive visitors of her choosing. The facility’s Resident Rights policy, revised 11/14/25, states that residents have the right to a dignified existence, self-determination, communication, and access to persons and services inside and outside the facility, including the right to receive visitors of their choosing at times of their choosing, subject only to the resident’s right to deny visitation and not infringing on other residents’ rights. Resident #1, admitted on 11/2/22 with diagnoses including Major Depressive Disorder, had a BIMS score of 15 on the 12/31/25 MDS, indicating she was cognitively intact. She reported that on the afternoon of 1/11/26 she was aware that her friend had been turned away by staff and was not allowed to visit her. In a telephone interview, the complainant, identified as Resident #1’s friend who had been visiting her several times each week without prior concern, stated that one afternoon in January 2026, between lunch and dinner, staff told him to leave the facility and refused to allow him to stay or to notify the resident that he was there. Resident #1 expressed that she hoped to see her friend again and stated that they had not done anything wrong and that they were both adults. The Interim DON confirmed that she was aware residents have the right to visitors of their choice and acknowledged that she was the one who asked the friend to leave the premises and that staff did not notify Resident #1 that she had a visitor. The Administrator reported he was not aware of this situation but affirmed that residents have the right to receive visitors of their choosing and that, if safety concerns exist, interventions such as supervision or designated visit locations could be used; however, no such measures were implemented in this case, and the visit was instead prohibited without informing the resident.
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