HospitalInspections.org

Based on observation, policy review and staff interview it was determined the hospital failed to ensure the hospital's Infection Control Officer had maintained a sanitary environment for all of the hospital's 21 patients and the personnel at the time of the survey.

Findings include:


A tour of the hospital was conducted on 07/11/12 at 09:00 AM. There were no cock roaches, cock roach eggs, or any other pests observed during the tour. Room 213 in the Medical Surgical Unit was unoccupied at the time of the tour and was inspected.
The floor of the cabinet under the patient sink contained several rust areas and rust colored drippings were noted running down the cabinet door. The floor contained drops of dried fluids that was wiped up with a damp paper towel.

The medication refrigerator in the medication room on the Medical Surgical Unit was observed to have dust and dried fluid spots and dried drippings on the inside shelves. The individual blue bins that held medications such as wound care cream and nutritional supplements contained dust inside them. The blue bin marked "202" contained dust and dried dark splash drippings on the side.

The patient nourishment center in the Medical Surgical Unit contained a refrigerator/freezer, with foods that were available for patients. The freezer had sticky, purple drippings on the inside back wall of the freezer. The freezer shelves contained dust, crumbs and dried droppings of fluids.

An empty patient specimen cup with a broken seal was noted in a cabinet above the counter. Also noted in the cabinet was a graduated cylinder with a grayish liquid with patches of a greenish-black substance floating on top and a drinking straw sticking out of it. Two drawers located under where the coffee pot sits on the counter, contained peanut butter packets, jelly packets, sugar and creamer packets all available to the patients. The drawers in which the food was stored contained dust, crumbs and stains inside the drawers and on the sides on the drawer tracks.

Rooms 1, 9 and 12 in the High Observation Unit were noted to have rust or rust droppings in the cabinet under the patient sink. In Rooms 3 and 7 the Formica strips in front of the patient sinks were missing.

The patient nourishment center in the High Observation Unit contained drawers that stored tea bags, hot chocolate mix, coffee creamers and sugar packets. These drawers had dust and stains inside the drawers and on the drawer tracks. The refrigerator gasket did not form a seal and a Velcro fastening system had been applied to the door in an effort to keep the refrigerator door closed.

The black refrigerator/freezer in the medication room used to store patient specimens had a large build-up of ice around the freezer section. Both sinks in the medication room were noted to have large areas of rust on the cabinets' floors underneath the sinks. The sink to the left had a pink pail under the plumbing pipe to catch water that leaked from the drain. The cabinet under the sink to the right had two pair of ankle weights used by the physical therapist and a tackle box that contained crumbs and a dark red, liquid substance.

Medical supplies were observed in the medication room of the High Observation Unit with expiration dates that were dates prior to the survey dates. These stored packs of supplies were available for patient care. These included a hundred-pack of 4 milliliter vacutainers and 6 milliliter vacutainers that had an expiration date of 06/2012. An opened container of 6 milliliter vacutainers had 19 vacutainers left had an expiration date of 06/2012. There were 5 mini tubes vacutainers, available for patient care, had an expiration date of 12/2011. Supplies, observed in the Emergency Airway Intubation Box, had expiration dates that were prior to the dates of the survey. There was an endotracheal tube that had an expiration date of 11/2010. Four nasopharyngeal tubes of different sizes had expiration dates that were prior to the survey dates; the 32 french had an expiration date of 06/2012, the 30 french had an expiration date of 03/2012, the 28 french had an expiration date of 04/2012, and the 26 french had an expiration date of 04/2012.

A family member of a patient was interviewed at approximately 10:45 AM. The family member denied any issues with the cleanliness of the unit and denied seeing any insects.

A typed note on a sheet of 8 1/2 X 11 sheet of paper was observed on a surveyor's briefcase at 11:15 AM. It read: "Regency Hospital of Columbus has roaches and they have been found in the kitchen repeatedly and on the patient floor." The note had no signature.

The kitchen was toured on 07/11/12 at approximately 01:15 PM. A small, gnat-like, black insect was noted crawling on the wall just inside the entrance to the kitchen. This surveyor waved a hand above the insect and the insect flew away. A small box, approximately 5 X 7 was noted on the floor behind an ice machine. The box was labeled with the words "Varment Guard." When asked what the box was for, the Manager of Food Services stated, "That is for the gnats." Tour of a storage room revealed a second box also labeled "Varment Guard" on the floor behind a food storage shelf. There were two additional boxes noted on a ledge behind a sink and on a shelf in the Housekeeping Closet. There were no cock roaches or cock roach eggs noted in the kitchen area.

The Director of Plant Operations was interviewed on 07/10/12 at approximately 03:30 PM. According to the Director, staff are instructed to notify their direct supervisor if any pests are observed within the building. The Director explained that supervisors are to report that information to the Director of Plant Operations so the exterminator is notified promptly.

The Inspection Reports for a commercial pesticide company were reviewed on 07/10/12 at 04:00 PM. An Inspection Report dated 01/12/12 indicated the target pests were German Cockroaches. The Inspection Report indicated the mechanical room and the kitchen were treated. The Technician Comment section of an Inspection report dated 01/20/12 stated: "Caught several roaches over by the coffee pot table and cooler and found roaches in wheel casters in that same area." Five days later, on 01/25/12, another inspection report revealed technician comments stating, "Only saw four roaches in wheel casters under table with coffee pots and caught several roaches in monitors." Roach sightings were also noted on the inspection reports dated 01/30/12, 02/08/12, and 03/12/12. The Technician Comments on the inspection report dated 03/19/12 indicated the target pests were mice and roaches. Technician comments continued to note roaches in the kitchen area through 06/11/12, including the comment on 04/23/12 that stated the office of the Manager of Foods Services was treated as one dead American roach had been was found.