HARRISBURG — The Pennsylvania Department of Health Friday released its March 2022 nursing home inspection report noting that nursing home surveyors conducted 551 inspections of 375 separate nursing homes. Of those inspections, there were 248 complaint investigations.
There are no new sanctions finalized against nursing care facilities in the past month.
“If you see something that may jeopardize a patient’s safety or wellbeing, please report it,” Acting Secretary of Health Keara Klinepeter said. “You can file an anonymous complaint by calling, filling out an online form, emailing or mailing a letter to the department. The Department of Health continues to investigate complaints to ensure nursing home residents receive the best quality of life and care.”
The inspections include information on nursing home patient care and building inspections. If a facility is cited for not following regulations during the survey, it must submit a plan of correction that includes what will be done to fix the issue(s) and a completion date for the resolution. The department will conduct a surprise follow-up inspection to ensure issues are resolved. Surveys are posted to the website 41 days after the survey is completed.
The Department of Health also conducts surveys on behalf of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS). These surveys include federal certification and recertification, complaint surveys, building safety surveys and others.
The department also may issue sanctions that could include a civil penalty, a ban on admissions, a license being revoked or a facility being put on a provisional license, which requires, among other things, being subject to additional inspections. A provisional license can be renewed no more than three times. The department can return the facility to a regular license if it is satisfied that all issues have been corrected and it is warranted.
The department maintains a searchable database, at https://sais.health.pa.gov/commonpoc/nhLocatorie.asp, which allows the public to view patient care surveys, building safety surveys, size of the nursing home, type of ownership and additional information about each of the nursing homes in the state.
The department oversees 688 nursing homes with more than 88,000 beds in Pennsylvania, in addition to other facilities, including hospitals, ambulatory surgical facilities, home care agencies and others.
Individuals can call (800) 254-5164, fill out the online complaint form at http://apps.health.pa.gov/dohforms/FacilityComplaint.aspx, email c-ncomplai@pa.gov, or send the complaint in the mail to the department: Division of Nursing Care Facilities Director, Pennsylvania Department of Health, Division of Nursing Care Facilities, 625 Forster St., Room 526, Health and Welfare Building, Harrisburg, Pa. 17120-0701. Complaints can also be faxed to (717) 772-2163.
