Tuscan Gardens of Venetia Bay’s Resident Safety in Focus
Tuscan Gardens of Venetia Bay Venice Assisted Living Facility was cited for failing to meet minimum requirements under Florida at the conclusion of a July 10, 2018 investigation conducted by the Florida Agency for Healthcare Administration. Tuscan Gardens of Venetia Bay is a 150 bed for-profit assisted living facility located at 841 Venetia Bay Boulevard in Venice, Florida. All assisted living facilities in Florida must meet certain standards under the law in order to maintain their operating license. Like other ALFs, Tuscan Gardens of Venetia Bay is subject to periodic unannounced survey inspections and complaint investigations.
Medication Problems Found By State Investigators
On July 10, 2018, investigators with the Florida Agency for Healthcare Administration completed an unannounced relicensure survey and complaint investigation at Tuscan Gardens of Venetia Bay. At that time, Florida officials made observations, reviewed records at the facility and spoke with staff about their procedures.
Florida officials concluded that Tuscan Gardens of Venetia Bay committed two Class III deficiencies, finding that “the facility failed to ensure medications were kept in a locked cabinet, locked cart, or other locked storage receptacle,” and “failed to ensure new directions for the use a medication were reflected on the medication container…” Of course, the proper handling, storage and assistance with the administration of medications to residents is a critical safety concern.
State Finds Evidence that Staffing and Resident Care Standards Not Met
In addition to the safety issues found in relation to the storage, disposal and labeling of medications, Florida investigators with AHCA also documented deficiencies related to staffing standards and resident care and supervision.
The administrator of every Florida assisted living facility is responsible for ensuring and documenting that the ALF’s staff is free from communicable diseases and that written proof is maintained in each staff member’s employment file. State investigators found that this requirement was not met for the administrator, herself, and for other employees in the building. This resulted in the Agency for Healthcare Administration citing Tuscan Gardens at Venetia Bay with a Class III deficiency. In addition to performing the relicensure survey, a recent call to AHCA triggered a complaint investigation that was performed at the assisted living facility at the same time. One of the residents had wandered away, apparently undetected, from the memory care locked unit at Tuscan Gardens of Venetia Bay. In citing the Venice assisted living facility, investigators with AHCA concluded that the evidence established that Tuscan Gardens of Venetia Bay had “failed to ensure there was documentation about the elopement and the interventions” that were put in place by staff and administration to prevent the resident from being able to wander away from a locked memory care unit. The entire investigative report may be reviewed by clicking here: https://tinyurl.com/y9thzza6
Have Questions Concerning Tuscan Gardens of Venetia Bay or another Assisted Living Facility?
If you have questions concerning the care received by a loved one at a Florida assisted living facility or nursing home, you may call me at (941) 485-7600 for a free and confidential consultation. If you need help in relocating a resident from a facility, we work with professionals who can can assist in exploring and finding an alternative solution. Our law firm focuses on the fight to improve care for our seniors in Florida by holding assisted living facility and nursing home corporations accountable for severe harm and loss that they may cause through abuse, neglect, understaffing and negligence. For nearly 25 years, I have assisted families in Florida seek justice for the wrongs committed by corporations that put profit ahead of the safety, health and well-being of some of our most vulnerable citizens.
