F0609

D

Failure to Timely Report Allegation of Abuse/Neglect to State Agency

Centralia, Washington Survey Completed on 02-20-2026

Penalty

No penalty information released

Summary

The facility failed to timely report an allegation of abuse and/or neglect to the State Survey Agency as required by its policy and state regulations. The facility’s abuse, neglect, exploitation, and misappropriation policy, dated September 2022, required that suspected abuse, neglect, exploitation, misappropriation, or injury of unknown source be reported immediately to the administrator and to other officials according to state law, defining “immediately” as within two hours for allegations involving abuse or resulting in serious bodily injury. Resident 1, admitted with diagnoses including COPD and opioid dependence, was the subject of an allegation received by the Administrator (Staff A) on 01/27/2026 at 2:10 PM. The allegation involved reported marks on the resident’s wrists related to restraints and that the resident had been found unresponsive due to being overmedicated.

Despite receiving this allegation, Staff A did not report it to the state hotline at the time it was received, stating she believed a prior investigation had addressed similar concerns. The DON (Staff B) reported on 02/13/2026 at 2:00 PM that she had not been informed of the allegation between 01/27/2026 and 02/13/2026, had not initiated an investigation related to the reported restraint-related marks and unresponsiveness, and could not locate documentation of any such investigation. Facility documentation showed the allegation was not reported to the state hotline until 02/13/2026, and the facility investigation document was also dated 02/13/2026. The surveyors concluded that the facility failed to report the allegation within required timeframes, as referenced in WAC 388-97-0640(5)(b).