complaint·December 21, 2023

S1 stated that managers did not always help when there was a shortage of staff but the Med Techs would help if it was really "hectic." Interview with Staff 2 (S2) revealed S2 had been working at the facility since February 2020. S2 stated that caregivers were generally assigned to one floor for each shift. S2 stated that they sometimes got overwhelmed with the amount of pendant calls because they were the only staff member on the floor. S2 stated that they generally tried to respond to pendant calls within 10 minutes but within the last couple of months it had taken longer. S2 could not recall any instances in which residents were injured due to slow response times. S2 stated that they did not assist with meal service but heard of residents not getting their meals on time. Interview with Staff 3 (S3) revealed that S3 had been working at the facility for approximately 2 years. S3 stated that their was not enough staff at the facility sometimes and that it was overwhelming with just one caregiver per floor. S3 stated that in the past few months, there had been more caregivers calling out sick. S3 could not recall any notable incidents of residents falling or getting injured due to slow response times from staff. Interview with Executive Director (ED) revealed the facility had 4 floors with approximately 25 rooms per floor. Each floor was assigned one caregiver and one other staff member that only bathed the residents, but would help out if necessary. ED stated that some of the residents did not need much assistance with Activities of Daily Living (ADL's) but there were some that required a higher level of care. If a staff member was preoccupied with another resident when another pendant call came in, they could radio another staff member for help. There were 2-3 Med Techs in the AM shift, two Med Techs in the PM shift and one Med Tech in the overnight shift. Med Techs were generally assigned two floors each and were cross trained. ED stated that pendant calls were generally responded to within "10-13" minutes by care staff. ED stated that in March and April 2020 many staff members were calling out sick or resigning, possibly due to COVID-19 concerns. ED stated that the dining room opened on August 10, 2020 and approximately 85% of the residents utilized it. The remaining 15% were still opting for tray service to their rooms. The residents could choose when they wanted their meals delivered and make adjustments as needed. Culinary staff delivered the meals directly to the residents. ED stated that some residents attempted to change their meal delivery time on the same day, which caused some scheduling confusion for the culinary staff. ED believes this was the main reason why some residents received their meals later then expected. LPA review of records revealed the facility had 80 active employees from July 2020 though December 2020. Records review also revealed that the facility was actively recruiting new staff from January 2020 through November 2020. A total of 25 staff members were hired during the time period of July 2020 through December 2020. These new hires included; caregivers, Med-Techs, wait staff, kitchen staff, etc. LPA determined that although several staff members were overwhelmed during this covid-19 time period, the facility did employ sufficient staff to meet the needs of the residents including food service needs. Based upon the foregoing, the above listed allegations are unsubstantiated. This finding means that the preponderance of the evidence standard has not been met and the allegations are not valid. An exit interview was conducted with Bill Lawson. A copy of this report along with licensee rights (LIC 9058, 3/22) was provided to Bill Lawson whose signature below verifies receipt of these rights.