HARRISBURG — The Pennsylvania Department of Health nursing home surveyors conducted 394 inspections at 280 nursing homes, which included 227 complaint investigations in February.
Also, 18 sanctions were issued against nursing care facilities,s, with one provisional license issued and civil consequences totaling more than $242,000.
“If you notice something at a nursing home that doesn’t seem proper, we encourage you to speak up,” said Dr. Rachel Levine, secretary for the Pennsylvania Department of Health. “You can make a criticism anonymously via calling 1-800-254-5164, filling out the net grievance form, emailing c-ncomplai@pa.Gov, or sending the criticism by mail to the branch.”
The inspections referred to as surveys, encompass statistics on nursing, domestic, affectedpatient-caree and building inspections. If a facility is cited for no longer following policies at some stage in the survey, it needs to publish a plan of correction that consists of what’s going to be accomplished to repair the problem and a final date. The department will behavior a marvel comply with-up inspection to ensure the issue is resolved.
The department may additionally impose a sanction. Possible sanctions include a civil penalty, a ban on admissions, a license being revoked, or a facility being put on a provisional license, which calls for, among other things, being inspected every six months. A provisional license can be renewed no more than three times. The department can go back the power to a regular license if it is happy that all the trouble has been corrected and it is warranted.
The branch maintains a searchable database, which permits the public to view patient care surveys, constructing protection surveys, length of the nursing home, kind of ownership, and further data about every nursing home within the country. The branch oversees almost 700 nursing homes and more than 88,000 beds in nursing homes in Pennsylvania, as well as other facilities, together with hospitals, ambulatory surgical facilities, home care organizations, and others.
