Ongoing Kitchen Ceiling Leaks and Structural Disrepair Compromise Food Safety Standards
Penalty
Summary
The facility failed to store, prepare, distribute, and serve food in accordance with professional standards for food safety due to longstanding and active water leaks and structural disrepair in the only kitchen. Surveyors observed extensive water damage and multiple makeshift ceiling patches made of mixed materials, including sagging panels and stained, splattered surfaces around and above the exhaust hood and stove area. The plaster archway between the kitchen and dishwash area and the kitchen walls also showed visible water damage and multiple plaster textures. Staff, including the Director of Environmental Services and the Food Service Director, reported that leaks had occurred multiple times over the years, with recent leaks occurring within the prior weeks. During multiple observations, there was an active leak beneath the three-bay sink, with the lower half of the wall saturated and an open bin under the sink collecting at least an inch of water. Staff reported that this container of water needed to be emptied daily or every other day and acknowledged that having standing water in the kitchen was not sanitary and could pose an infection control risk. The Director of Environmental Services stated they were aware of the leak and believed it had been fixed the day before one of the observations, but the leak persisted. There was no log maintained for kitchen leaks; instead, kitchen staff verbally notified maintenance when issues arose. On several subsequent dates, surveyors observed active water dripping along the front, back, and sides of the exhaust hood above the stove, with visible drip marks and water landing into a metal pan placed on a front burner and onto towels on the floor, creating puddles. The Director of Environmental Services and the Administrator both acknowledged that it was not appropriate or sanitary to have an active leak in the kitchen, and multiple staff, including the Infection Preventionist, stated that a leak from the shower room above into the kitchen and the multi-textured, patched ceiling surfaces were unsanitary and difficult to properly sanitize. The Director of Environmental Services reported that a shower stall above the kitchen had been valved off months earlier due to leaking into the kitchen and that the source of the ongoing leak had not been definitively identified.
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