§483.80 Infection Control The facility must establish and maintain an infection prevention and control program designed to provide a safe, sanitary and comfortable environment and to help prevent the development and transmission of communicable diseases and infections.
§483.80(a) Infection prevention and control program. The facility must establish an infection prevention and control program (IPCP) that must include, at a minimum, the following elements:
§483.80(a)(1) A system for preventing, identifying, reporting, investigating, and controlling infections and communicable diseases for all residents, staff, volunteers, visitors, and other individuals providing services under a contractual arrangement based upon the facility assessment conducted according to §483.71 and following accepted national standards;
§483.80(a)(2) Written standards, policies, and procedures for the program, which must include, but are not limited to: (i) A system of surveillance designed to identify possible communicable diseases or infections before they can spread to other persons in the facility; (ii) When and to whom possible incidents of communicable disease or infections should be reported; (iii) Standard and transmission-based precautions to be followed to prevent spread of infections; (iv)When and how isolation should be used for a resident; including but not limited to: (A) The type and duration of the isolation, depending upon the infectious agent or organism involved, and (B) A requirement that the isolation should be the least restrictive possible for the resident under the circumstances. (v) The circumstances under which the facility must prohibit employees with a communicable disease or infected skin lesions from direct contact with residents or their food, if direct contact will transmit the disease; and (vi)The hand hygiene procedures to be followed by staff involved in direct resident contact.
§483.80(a)(4) A system for recording incidents identified under the facility's IPCP and the corrective actions taken by the facility.
§483.80(e) Linens. Personnel must handle, store, process, and transport linens so as to prevent the spread of infection.
§483.80(f) Annual review. The facility will conduct an annual review of its IPCP and update their program, as necessary.
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Observations: Based on observation, review of the facility's infection control tracking logs, facility policy, and staff interviews, it was determined the facility failed to maintain a comprehensive infection control program to monitor the development and spread of infections within the facility, including tracking of infections for three out of 27 residents reviewed (Residents 50, 122, and 140).
Findings include:
Review of the facility ' s Infection Prevention and Infection Control Plan, indicated as last reviewed by the facility on April 30, 2026, revealed facility leadership is committed to resident safety, providing quality healthcare services, and preventing disease transmission for those that provide support or receive services at the facility. The policy indicated the infection preventionist will provide ongoing, facility-wide outcome and process surveillance of healthcare-associated infections. The policy defined outcome surveillance as a systemic method of collecting, consolidating, and analyzing data concerning a disease or event, followed by dissemination of the information with a goal of improving outcomes. Healthcare-associated infection outcome surveillance incorporates several approaches to minimize risks and control the spread of infections.
A review of the facility's infection control data conducted during the survey ending June 30, 2026, revealed the facility's infection control tracking did not reflect evidence of a functional tracking system to monitor and investigate causes of infection and manner of spread. There was no documented evidence of a functional system, which enabled the facility to analyze clusters, changes in prevalent organisms, or increases in the rate of infection in a timely manner.
Clinical record review revealed Resident 140 tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 (the virus that causes COVID-19, a contagious respiratory illness) on December 19, 2025. Resident 50 tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 (the virus that causes COVID-19) on January 15, 2026. Resident 122 tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 (the virus that causes COVID-19) on March 3, 2026.
During an interview on June 30, 2026, at 9:35 AM, the infection preventionist (IP) was unable to provide any documented evidence of facility tracking or analysis of healthcare-associated infections from November 1, 2025, through March 16, 2026. The IP was unable to provide documented evidence of HAI surveillance, including tracking and monitoring of Residents 50, 122, or 140's SARS-COVID-19 infections.
There was no documented evidence of detailed data collection that could be used by the facility to track infections and to identify any potential trends contained in the tracking data from November 1, 2025, through March 16, 2026. There was no documented evidence at the time of the survey that, based on the available tracking data, the facility had identified any possible trends to implement specific interventions to prevent the spread of any of the infections during the above date range.
There was no documented evidence from November 1, 2025, through March 16, 2026, that the facility was compiling data and evaluating the data to determine what could be done to prevent the spread or recurrence of infection. The facility failed to include the necessary details to conduct routine, ongoing, and systematic collection, analysis, interpretation, and dissemination of surveillance data to identify infections (i.e., healthcare-associated infections (HAIs) and community-acquired), infection risks, and communicable disease outbreaks and to maintain or improve resident health status and to track staff for adherence to infection control policies and procedures and the potential need for corrective action.
During an interview on June 30, 2026, at 10:30 AM, the above information was reviewed with the nursing home administrator (NHA). The NHA was unable to provide documented evidence of healthcare-associated infection tracking, trending, or data analysis records from November 1, 2025, through March 16, 2026. The facility failed to maintain a comprehensive program to monitor the development and spread of infections within the facility, including tracking of infections for residents 50, 122, and 140.
28 Pa. Code 211.10 (d) Resident care policies.
28 Pa. Code 211.12 (c)(d)(1)(5) Nursing Services.
| | Plan of Correction - To be completed: 08/11/2026
1. Resident #140 no longer resides in the facility. Resident was discharged on 4/7/26. Residents #50 and #122 are no longer infected with COVID-19.
2. There are currently no active COVID-19 cases in the facility. All residents that are currently diagnosed with an infectious disease will be reviewed to ensure that monitoring and tracking of each infection is being completed as per requirement 3. Infection Preventionist will be inserviced on the facility's policy on Infection Prevention and Infection Control plan. 4. The Infection Preventionist will complete a random monthly audit x3 months of all residents with infectious disease to ensure that monitoring and tracking of infections are being done per policy. Outcome of audits will be reported to monthly QAPI. Date of Compliance 8/11/2026
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