complaint·September 10, 2024

On 628/23, the facility informed the RP that the missing pages from the hospice documents were not available due to being provided in incomplete form by the hospice provider. Following R1's death, the RP, also the Power of Attorney (POA), formally requested a complete set of records on 8/11/23. GQI responded by stating that while they would provide some documents, they could not release all requested records due to regulatory and contractual limitations. A regulatory and legal review revealed that the Department of Social Services indicated that a POA’s authority terminates upon the resident's death. Consequently, the facility was not obligated to release resident records after their death. GQI’s position was that no specific law required them to release all requested records after the resident’s death, though they did agree to provide payment records and relevant care documents. The facility had provided the majority of the requested documents, excluding those from the hospice, which were property of the hospice provider and not directly controlled by GQI. Administrator Loreen Hickman and Licensee Ronald Regan confirmed that the facility had furnished all available documents and addressed any missing pages from their own records. The remaining documents were under the hospice provider's control. An appeal of the facility’s actions was reviewed, and the Department concluded that GQI’s response adhered to regulatory requirements. The facility had complied with providing all available records and clarified that some documents were beyond their control. In conclusion, the investigation found no evidence that the facility did not provide the requested records beyond their control or contrary to regulatory obligations. Therefore, the allegation is deemed UNFOUNDED. Note that a finding that is unfounded means that the allegation is false, could not have happened, and/or is without a reasonable basis. Based on today’s visit, no deficiencies are being cited. After discussing the findings, Administrator needed to leave the facility and assigned staff on duty (S1) to sign this report on behalf of the Administrator, An exit interview was conducted with S1 and a copy of this report was provided.