ALBANY, N.Y. – The New York State Health Department has been slow to inspect violations at adult care facilities, according to a recent audit by the state comptroller’s office.
The audit reviewed the department’s oversight from 2018 to 2024. It found that the department sometimes failed to conduct timely inspections and lacked documentation showing problems were fixed.
Violations included crumbling stairs and walkways, poorly functioning appliances, and a lack of regular fire drills.
The Department of Health said the COVID-19 pandemic caused a backlog of delays, but they have made progress in returning to regular inspections.
Read the department’s full response below:
“The Department has made substantial progress returning to normal surveillance timelines that were delayed due to the pandemic – a time when survey professionals worked tirelessly to educate facility staff and residents, enforced public health safety measures, and participated in numerous response activities – when Department resources were focused on reducing devastating impacts to public health.
Throughout the public health emergency, adult care facilities were subject to comprehensive, focused infection control and complaint investigations, and in some cases, were the subject of enforcement actions.
To streamline and balance resources and ensure procedural consistency, the Department implemented a robust system to monitor its compliance with prescribed surveillance timelines and developed systems to strengthen real-time cross-program communication, leading to consistency and identification of best practices.
Other surveillance program updates to date include:
Required completion of the federal Surveyor Minimum Quality Test which provides a strong, consistent foundation for long-term care residential surveillance activities including complaint investigations. Mentorship for surveyors to learn the nuances of disciplinary-specific investigations of allegations against adult care facilities, associated report preparation, and use of the federal software platform. An annual review of the Surveillance Operations Manual to identify opportunities for efficiency and make necessary updates based on industry landscape evolution. Launch of a leadership academy to invest in mid-level surveillance managers to enhance their ability to share best practices, leverage technology to build efficiencies and consistency, and use data to drive performance improvements based on quantifiable benchmarks. Sampling reviews by the Office of Aging and Long-Term Care’s Quality Assurance Performance Improvement Committee to identify ongoing opportunities for efficiency, improvement, and training.”AI assisted with the formatting of this story. Click here to see how WHEC News10NBC uses AI
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