PA. Veterans Home Cited on Narcotics

By Walter F. Roche Jr.

A Pennsylvania health facility for veterans has been cited for mishandling of narcotic drugs including the apparent theft of opiods by staff members.
The violations of drug handling and other regulations at the Gino J. Merli Veterans Center were included in a report recently made public by the state Health Department. Other violations uncovered in a Dec. 7 inspection include failure to implement a correction plan from a prior inspection and multiple violations of sanitary requirements in food preparation areas.
The facility "failed to demonstrate effective corrective action plans," the report states, noting that mishandling of drugs had been cited in a prior report.
Both inspections were to re-certify the licensed nursing home for participation in the federally funded Medicaid program.
As the report notes the facility has had a history of problems with the handling of narcotic drugs. A licensed practical nurse employed at the facility was investigated in April of 2017 for mishandling of drugs and was no longer employed at the center, according to the report.
Officials of the state Department of Military and Veterans Affairs, which run state veterans homes, did not reply to requests for comment.
In the new report, surveyors found that in the review of 33 residents' records, nine were found deficient.
The report cites the "potential misappropriation of residents' property by drug diversion."
The state inspectors reviewed drug dispensing records and individual patient records and found that in many cases there was no verification that the drugs dispensed were actually administered to the patients as prescribed.
In one specific case a nurse incorrectly transcribed a doctor's prescription resulting in the patient getting incorrect dosages.
A review of surveillance videos showed a licensed practical nurse pouring medication from two different containers on 13 occasions, the report states. And there was no documented evidence the drugs were actually administered to the appropriate patients.
A further review of drug dispensing records showed staffers routinely taking two pain killing pills when only one pill had been prescribed.
The report states that when questioned about the double doses , a staffer "stated that he would give Resident 51 more thn the physician prescribed." That staffer resigned Aug. 7
A second staffer who mishandled narcotic drugs was "no longer employed by the facility," the inspectors reported..
In yet another violation, the report states that inventories of narcotic drugs required at the end of each shify were not always conducted.
The report cites the home for sanitation violations in a food preparation areas including a "build-up of thick black grime on a hand-washing area.
The facility failed to maintain two food preparation areas in a manner to prevent the potential for microbiological growth.
Contact: wfrochejr999@gmail.com