About 73 percent of Maryland?s licensed assisted living facilities were not inspected during the past financial year, according to an audit of the state?s health department that also noted “serious deficiencies” in safeguarding vital records.
The Department of Health and Mental Hygiene did not conduct required annual inspections at 1,139 of the 1,567 licensed facilities in the fiscal year that ended in June 2006, according to the report released Friday by the state?s Department of Legislative Services. Department officials also acknowledged that, as of last November, inspections has not been performed for most of the 337 unlicensed facilities that have applied for licenses as far back as 1998 ? many of which are serving patients while their applications are pending.
Department officials called the problem a “budget issue,” that, barring additional resources, may be difficult to resolve.
“The future looks brighter but there is still some cause for concern,” said Wendy Kronmiller, director of the department?s Office of Health Care Quality. “My staff is out there every day doing a terrific job maximizing the resources we have and trying to make a difference.”
Kronmiller said the office has 24 employees dedicated to regulating assisted living facilities, five more than last year. But advocates for the elderly said the office is chronically understaffed.
Claire Whitbeck, legislative director for the Voices for Quality Care group, recounted horror stories of uninspected assisted living facilities. Among the worst, a patient suffered from maggot-infested bed sores at Millersville Home Care, a facility that went uninspected for 18 months, she said.
“What is truly bothersome to me is that we can?t afford to have enough inspectors to keep people safe,” Whitbeck said. “I think we can?t afford not to.”
Legislative auditor Bruce Myers identified other egregious deficiencies, chief among them inadequate safeguards on residents? birth certificates.
Unauthorized employees routinely share passwords to access and print records, and do not always require sufficient documentation from residents requesting copies, according to the report.
In a written response, department Secretary John Colmers said the department will be visiting all local health departments to ensure policies are being enforced.
Taxpayer donations to the Cancer Fund ? which provides grants for cancer research, prevention and treatment ? totaling $890,000 has not been spent since its inception in 2005, the audit also notes.
