The Springs at South Biscayne assisted living facility is located at 6235 Hoffman Street, North Port, Florida 34287. The license for this facility is held by a limited liability company named “The Springs at South Biscayne, LLC.”
On April 16, 2019, inspectors with the Florida Agency for Healthcare Administration concluded a biennial license renewal survey and found that this ALF failed to meet certain requirements under state law.
The Springs at South Biscayne failed to meet staffing standards
All assisted living facilities must comply with Florida law related to staffing standards. At the time of the survey inspection, the assisted living facility was determined by state investigators to be in non-compliance with the following requirement related to staffing:
(2) STAFF. (a) Within 30 days after beginning employment, newly hired staff must submit a written statement from a health care provider documenting that the individual does not have any signs or symptoms of communicable disease. The examination performed by the health care provider must have been conducted no earlier than 6 months before submission of the statement. Newly hired staff does not include an employee transferring without a break in service from one facility to another when the facility is under the same management or ownership. 1. Evidence of a negative tuberculosis examination must be documented on an annual basis. Documentation provided by the Florida Department of Health or a licensed health care provider certifying that there is a shortage of tuberculosis testing materials satisfies the annual tuberculosis examination requirement. An individual with a positive tuberculosis test must submit a health care provider’s statement that the individual does not constitute a risk of communicating tuberculosis. 2. If any staff member has, or is suspected of having, a communicable disease, such individual must be immediately removed from duties until a written statement is submitted from a health care provider indicating that the individual does not constitute a risk of transmitting a communicable disease. (b) Staff must be qualified to perform their assigned duties consistent with their level of education, training, preparation, and experience. Staff providing services requiring licensing or certification must be appropriately licensed or certified. All staff must exercise their responsibilities, consistent with their qualifications, to observe residents, to document observations on the appropriate resident’s record, and to report the observations to the resident’s health care provider in accordance with this rule chapter. (c) All staff must comply with the training requirements of rule 58A-5.0191, F.A.C. (d) An assisted living facility contracting to provide services to residents must ensure that individuals providing services are qualified to perform their assigned duties in accordance with this rule chapter. The contract between the facility and the staffing agency or contractor must specifically describe the services the staffing agency or contractor will provide to residents. (e) For facilities with a licensed capacity of 17 or more residents, the facility must: 1. Develop a written job description for each staff position and provide a copy of the job description to each staff member; and, 2. Maintain time sheets for all staff. (f) Level 2 background screening must be conducted for staff, including staff contracted by the facility to provide services to residents, pursuant to sections 408.809 and 429.174, F.S.
Food service and background screening requirements also at issue
At the conclusion of their investigation, Florida officials cited the assisted living facility for failing to meet the following food service requirement under Florida law:
(2) DIETARY STANDARDS. (a) The meals provided by the assisted living facility must be planned based on the current USDA Dietary Guidelines for Americans, 2010, which are incorporated by reference and available for review at: http://www.flrules.org/Gateway/reference.asp?No=Ref-04003, and the current summary of Dietary Reference Intakes established by the Food and Nutrition Board of the Institute of Medicine of the National Academies, 2010, which are incorporated by reference and available for review at: http://iom.edu/Activities/Nutrition/SummaryDRIs/~/media/Files/Activity%20Files/Nutrition/DRIs/New%20Material/5DRI%20Values%20SummaryTables%2014.pdf. Therapeutic diets must meet these nutritional standards to the extent possible. (b) The residents’ nutritional needs must be met by offering a variety of meals adapted to the food habits, preferences, and physical abilities of the residents, and must be prepared through the use of standardized recipes. For facilities with a licensed capacity of 16 or fewer residents, standardized recipes are not required. Unless a resident chooses to eat less, the facility must serve the standard minimum portions of food according to the Dietary Reference Intakes. (c) All regular and therapeutic menus to be used by the facility must be reviewed annually by a licensed or registered dietitian, a licensed nutritionist, or a registered dietetic technician supervised by a licensed or registered dietitian, or a licensed nutritionist to ensure the meals meet the nutritional standards established in this rule. The annual review must be documented in the facility files and include the original signature of the reviewer, registration or license number, and date reviewed. Portion sizes must be indicated on the menus or on a separate sheet. 1. Daily food servings may be divided among three or more meals per day, including snacks, as necessary to accommodate resident needs and preferences. 2. Menu items may be substituted with items of comparable nutritional value based on the seasonal availability of fresh produce or the preferences of the residents. (d) Menus must be dated and planned at least 1 week in advance for both regular and therapeutic diets. Residents must be encouraged to participate in menu planning. Planned menus must be conspicuously posted or easily available to residents. Regular and therapeutic menus as served, with substitutions noted before or when the meal is served, must be kept on file in the facility for 6 months. (e) Therapeutic diets must be prepared and served as ordered by the health care provider. 1. Facilities that offer residents a variety of food choices through a select menu, buffet style dining, or family style dining are not required to document what is eaten unless a health care provider’s order indicates that such monitoring is necessary. However, the food items that enable residents to comply with the therapeutic diet must be identified on the menus developed for use in the facility. 2. The facility must document a resident’s refusal to comply with a therapeutic diet and provide notification to the resident’s health care provider of such refusal. (f) For facilities serving three or more meals a day, no more than 14 hours must elapse between the end of an evening meal containing a protein food and the beginning of a morning meal. Intervals between meals must be evenly distributed throughout the day with not less than 2 hours nor more than 6 hours between the end of one meal and the beginning of the next. For residents without access to kitchen facilities, snacks must be offered at least once per day. Snacks are not considered to be meals for the purposes of calculating the time between meals. (g) Food must be served attractively at safe and palatable temperatures. All residents must be encouraged to eat at tables in the dining areas. A supply of eating ware sufficient for all residents, including adaptive equipment if needed by any resident, must be on hand.
Additionally, the ALF was cited for not meeting a requirement related to the screening of employees: 435.12(2) Care Provider Background Screening Clearinghouse.- (b) Until such time as the fingerprints are enrolled in the national retained print arrest notification program at the Federal Bureau of Investigation, an employee with a break in service of more than 90 days from a position that requires screening by a specified agency must submit to a national screening if the person returns to a position that requires screening by a specified agency. (c) An employer of persons subject to screening by a specified agency must register with the clearinghouse and maintain the employment status of all employees within the clearinghouse. Initial employment status and any changes in status must be reported within 10 business days. (d) An employer must register with and initiate all criminal history checks through the clearinghouse before referring an employee or potential employee for electronic fingerprint submission to the Department of Law Enforcement. The registration must include the employee’s full first name, middle initial, and last name; social security number; date of birth; mailing address; sex; and race. Individuals, persons, applicants, and controlling interests that cannot legally obtain a social security number must provide an individual taxpayer identification number.
The entire inspection report may be accessed and reviewed here: https://tinyurl.com/w8jfy3x
Have questions or concerns relating to a loved’s care at a local assisted living facility?
If you have questions concerning the care of a loved one at a Florida assisted living facility, you may call me for a free, confidential consultation at (941) 485-7600. Our law firm fights to hold assisted living facilities accountable for the harm they cause our seniors and to improve the quality of care for all Floridians. James Keim, Assisted Living Facility Abuse Layer.
