cms_AK: 15

In collaboration with The Seattle Times, Big Local News is providing full-text nursing home deficiencies from Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS). These files contain the full narrative details of each nursing home deficiency cited regulators. The files include deficiencies from Standard Surveys (routine inspections) and from Complaint Surveys. Complete data begins January 2011 (although some earlier inspections do show up). Individual states are provides as CSV files. A very large (4.5GB) national file is also provided as a zipped archive. New data will be updated on a monthly basis. For additional documentation, please see the README.

This data as json, copyable

rowid facility_name facility_id address city state zip inspection_date deficiency_tag scope_severity complaint standard eventid inspection_text filedate
15 KETCHIKAN MED CTR NEW HORIZONS TRANSITIONAL CARE 25010 3100 TONGASS AVENUE KETCHIKAN AK 99901 2018-08-03 755 F 0 1 RHGS11 Based on observation and interview the facility failed to have consistent safeguards in place for appropriate disposition of controlled substance medications within the medication storage room. Specifically, the Cactus Smart Sink (a secured, closed cartridge for controlled substance medication disposal) was overfull with disposed medication to the point the medications were accessible. This failed practice had the potential to affect all residents (based on a census of 18), disrupt facility reconciliation of disposed controlled substance medication and/or cause potential loss, diversion, or accidental exposure. Findings: During an observation of the medication storage room on 8/2/18 at 9:45 am, it was noted the Cactus Smart Sink was overfull. Multiple pills and powder were visible and accessible by hand. It was further observed that the red light was blinking on the Smart Sink system. During an interview on 8/2/18 at 10:10 am, Pharmacist #1 stated when the red light blinks on the Cactus Smart Sink it needs to be emptied. During an interview on 8/2/18 at 10:20 am, Pharmacy Tech #1 visualized the Cactus Smart Sink in the medication storage room and stated the cartridge was overfull. He/she further stated the pills and powder should not be visible within the sink. During an interview on 8/2/18 at 10:30 am, Licensed Nurse (LN) #4 stated when the red light blinks, it means the cartridge within the Cactus Smart Sink need to be changed because it is full. LN #4 had not called the pharmacy for them to replace the cartridge prior to this observation. Review of facility's policy Cactus Smart Sink Use Policy, dated 3/9/18, revealed: Cactus Smart Sink: Cactus Smart Sink is a secure pharmaceutical waste container that accepts the disposal of solids and liquids converting them into an unusable and unrecoverable state. Further review revealed: When a cartridge is full, the unit will notify the pharmacy to replace it. 2020-09-01