Medical care director: single staff transfer led to neglect citation, 'red hand' caps star rating

Destiny, director of the county medical care facility, told the Jackson County commissioners the facility received a citation (F600) after a certified nursing assistant made a one-person transfer for a resident who required two-person assistance; the incident produced a publicly visible "red hand" designation and capped the facility’s survey score at two stars.

"We had an individual who requires two people to use a lift to assist them from the bed to the chair," Destiny said. "In this particular instance we had a CNA that chose to transfer this person with one person instead of two. The resident had an injury, which is what resulted in the citation." She said the state investigated and assigned the neglect tag under current standards.

Destiny explained how the current CMS/public-quality interpretation applies strict liability for failures to follow care plans: "Now going forward if there's any lack of following a care plan it's automatically cited as a neglect tag because the care plan is what determines the level of care that each individual requires." She asked commissioners to be aware of the policy and raised the prospect of advocating for a return to a standard that considers facility systems where appropriate.

Commissioner Bair said he understood the stricter approach but cautioned about possible overreach; Destiny corrected an earlier misstatement about which federal administration made the change, saying the shift occurred under the Biden administration and that subsequent administrations have considered rolling back the interpretation. Commissioner Williams asked about petition options; Destiny said the facility filed an appeal but was unable to win it under the strict-liability standard.

The board moved and approved a motion to receive the facility report by voice vote.