Failure to Maintain Effective Bed Bug Pest Control Program
Penalty
Summary
The facility failed to maintain an effective pest control program to ensure the environment was free of pests, specifically bed bugs, for four residents. One cognitively intact resident reported seeing bed bugs in her room within the past week and stated that when she informed the Nursing Home Administrator (NHA), he questioned whether she was sure because it would require removing everything from her room, and she felt he was trying to get her to say she had not seen them. Staff interviews revealed that bed bugs had been observed in multiple resident rooms within the last one to two weeks, including the rooms of residents with both intact and impaired cognition. Staff reported seeing bed bugs in the rooms of two other residents within the last week. A CNA/Medication Technician and another CNA described catching a suspected bed bug in a sealed container in the shared room of two residents, confirming its identity using the internet, stripping the beds, bagging clothing, and assisting the residents with showers while housekeeping performed a deep clean. Another housekeeper reported that staff saw bed bugs in a different resident’s room the previous night or that morning and sent photos to the Director of Maintenance. That resident’s medical record documented red, itchy bumps and bug bite-like lesions on her arms, back, and neck over several days in January. The Director of Maintenance acknowledged that bed bugs periodically appeared in the facility and described using a chemical product, Gentrol, to treat affected rooms. He stated that he mixed one ounce of Gentrol with one gallon of water in a pressure sprayer and used the same mixed solution for at least three separate treatments over a period longer than 48 hours, contrary to the manufacturer’s instructions that the diluted solution must be used within 48 hours of mixing. He also did not know when the product was purchased or when it expired. The NHA stated he was unaware that the chemicals had been donated from an outside job over five years ago and that he was unsure of the product’s expiration or open date, while also indicating that he had directed the Director of Maintenance to use facility-owned chemicals instead of calling an exterminator.
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