Assisted Living and Personal Care Homes in Pennsylvania: A Different Regime

Three different things

Families frequently do not know which one their relative is in, and the distinction determines what the facility was required to provide.

The retention problem

This is the recurring theme. A resident’s condition declines to the point where they need nursing care, and the facility keeps them anyway.

The reasons are commercial and sometimes compassionate: the bed is occupied and paid for, and moving a person with dementia is genuinely distressing. But a facility licensed for personal care that retains a resident requiring skilled nursing has taken on a duty it cannot meet, and the harm that follows, pressure sores, falls, medication problems, is exactly what you would expect.

Look at the assessments. Pennsylvania requires assessment of whether a resident’s needs can be met, and evidence that needs exceeded the license while the resident stayed is the center of these cases.

What is often thinner than families assume

• Staffing. Requirements differ from skilled nursing and there may be no nurse on site overnight.
• Medication. Assistance with self administration is not the same as nursing administration, and errors follow.
• Clinical monitoring. Vital signs and skin checks may not be routine at all.
• Emergency response. Time to recognize a deterioration and call for help.

The admission agreement matters more here

These are contractual relationships as well as regulated ones. The agreement sets out what services are provided and at what price, and frequently contains arbitration clauses and liability limitations. Send us the agreement along with the assessments.

What to request

The admission agreement and any service plan, initial and ongoing assessments of needs, medication records, incident reports, staffing information, and the facility’s license category and inspection history.