Creating a Safe Environment at Legacy Place – Pennsylvania’s Regulatory Process

Caring for the elderly is a noble task. It requires dedication, patience, and diligence. To ensure all can enjoy a safe and protected environment, the state of Pennsylvania has set forward a set of regulations that must be met by every care home.

We thought it would be a good idea to show you what these regulations are and how we ensure they are implemented at Legacy Place.

Stringent Requirements to Ensure Adequate Care

Before we dive into these regulations let us briefly understand what Personal Care Homes are. According to the Pennsylvania Department of Human Services, Personal Care Homes are:

“abodes that provide shelter, meals, supervision and assistance with simple tasks, generally for older people who are unable to care for themselves.”

Most of these homes are privately-owned, while the rest are managed by local governments or non-profit agencies.

Read more: http://legacyplace.org/senior-care/personal-care-for-seniors/

The Department of Human Service is responsible for overseeing the Office of Long-Term Living. The department has a set of over 200 regulations for care homes to follow. These homes are licensed and inspected by the Pennsylvania Department of Human Services under the requirements comprised in 55 Pa. Code Chapter 2600. These requirements include but are not limited to:

• proper fire safety
• adequate staff training and education
• highly nutritious meals and hygienic meal preparation
• regular health check-ups for residents and medical care
• physical site conditions
• and other factors influencing the health, safety, and well-being of resident

 

Financial management, monitoring, and emergency response in addition to personal services and medication administration also need to be provided keeping in mind the special care required by residents with dementia.

Some of these requirements are critical and ensure that there will be no compromise to health and safety. For example, prescription medication must be administered only by a licensed professional or a staff person who has completed department-approved medication administration training and has passed the performance-based competency test. At least one staff member who is trained in first aid and certified in obstructed airway techniques and CPR must be present in the home at all times. Criminal history and background checks are to be conducted before admission of staff members followed by requisite training of all employed staff members.

Regular Inspections

Strict inspections are conducted by The Department of Human Services to scrutinize the performance of Care Homes. These inspections are held for one of three reasons –

·        as an annual inspection,

·        in response to a filed complaint,

·        or in response to an ‘adverse incident report’.

If it is an annual inspection, it is held onsite and announced. The inspection report contains resident care information and building inspections. If a facility is not following regulations, it will be cited and the residency must submit a plan of action with a completion date in order to correct the issues found. The department will then conduct a random surprise follow-up inspection to ensure the issues are resolved.

The entire inspection process is fool-proof, allowing residents to feel more comfortable and at home, ultimately increasing the residency’s reputation. It is essential for Personal Care Homes to adhere to the inspection process because once the inspection is done and only if the requirements are well met, a license will be issued to the facility by The Department of Human Services.

How We Are Doing At Legacy Place

At Legacy Place, we take great measures to adhere to these regulations because we love our residents, and our focus has always been to provide the best of care to our dear brothers and sisters.

 

We had an inspection recently and the inspector complimented us on how clean our facility is and how happy and engaged our residents are. She mentioned the toll this pandemic has had on personal care facilities everywhere. On average, she finds nearly 10-12 violations in many care homes and was happy to see that there were hardly any at Legacy Place. Due to Covid precautions, it has been taking inspectors 2-3 days to inspect a building, but it only took her one day at Legacy Place because all our documentation was organized and very few violations were identified.

We want to take this opportunity to thank all our staff and managers for their dedication and for their tireless effort in ensuring that all these regulations are followed to the most minute detail. This is what makes Legacy Place the warm, safe haven that it has become for our dear elderly ones.