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.
