Repeated Bed Bug Citations Reported at New York Rehabilitation and Nursing Center
Failure to prevent repeated infestations of bed bugs may be considered substandard quality of care and result in submitting of false claims.
Compliance Perspective – Bed Bugs
Policies/Procedures: The Compliance and Ethics Officer with the Administrator, Director of Nursing, and Medical Director will review policies and procedures involving Infection Prevention and Control of insect infestations.
Training: The Compliance and Ethics Officer, as well as every department head, will ensure that staff are trained to identify the presence of and respond in a timely manner to concerns about bed bugs. Nursing staff will observe all new admissions and their belongings to rule out the presence of bed bugs.
Audit: The Compliance and Ethics Officer should personally conduct an audit of the facility’s pest control contract, whether regular inspections and monitoring are occurring, and if any discovered infestations are appropriately handled. The Compliance Officer with the Administrator should consider providing information to the families of the residents about bed bugs, and what they can do to help prevent infestations.
Recent citations for bed bug infestations at a New York rehabilitation and nursing center may not be the only concerns revealed by New York State inspections over the last four years. The facility has been cited 67 times for standard health violations and 23 times for life safety violations—both far above the statewide average.
Employees and residents of the nursing home report that the facility will be fumigated. Earlier, bed bug sniffing dogs were used to discover the areas of the infestation. This required the residents to be relocated from their rooms to other areas of the facility in preparation for the fumigation.
To avoid carrying the bed bugs home with them, employees have been placing their coats and personal belongings in plastic bags when they enter the facility.
The facility is not required by law to report a bed bug infestation to New York State Department of Health, but the complaints by residents and their families have alerted them.
The new administrator at the facility responded to an inquiry about whether the facility was observing the guidelines recommended by the National Pest Management for medical facilities if bed bugs are discovered. The administrator responded in an e-mail saying, the facility “contracts with pest control professionals that help maintain a safe living space for all residents. An issue was recently detected by the facility and through its partnership with these professionals, it was immediately dealt with. This effective pest control program will continue to constantly monitor and provide preventative maintenance as needed to ensure a safe and clean environment.”
