KNOXVILLE, TN (Story courtesy of WVLT) – A state audit has found that the Tennessee Health Facilities Commission failed to investigate thousands of complaints against nursing homes and other healthcare facilities, all while continuing to fall behind on state and federal surveys meant to ensure those facilities operate up-to-code.
The audit comes from the Tennessee Comptroller’s Office, which often acts as a watchdog for other public offices, departments and agencies. The Comptroller’s office found the commission was behind on surveying almost 700 healthcare facilities and was late on investigating thousands of complaints against nursing homes, even issues that put residents in “immediate jeopardy.”
A huge backlog of state and federal surveying
According to the report, in 2022 the Health Facilities Commission was put in charge of conducting federally- and state-required surveys for more than 3,000 facilities every 15 months. Those surveys are aimed at making sure facilities are compliant with Tennessee and U.S. codes and requirements.
That responsibility came with a 176 nursing home backlog, thanks in part to the COVID-19 pandemic, which put surveys on hold.
This is all on top of a 149 assisted living facility backlog.
Complaints, even serious ones, are being investigated late or not at all
Beyond that, the audit also found that the Health Facilities Commission was late investigating 5,534 complaints against nursing homes and other assisted living facilities. The state commission has a federally-required time limit for looking into complaints, and the audit said it was late investigating 3,463 issues at nursing homes and 2,071 problems at assisted living facilities.
Beyond the investigations that were late, the audit also said the commission hadn’t even started investigating 4,756 complaints, as of April this year.
How can the commission fix it?
Part of the comptroller’s audit process is recommending fixes for whatever issues it investigates. The audit said management claimed that both issues feed into each other, adding that the commission pointed to an October 2022 change that allowed any member of the public, not just residents and family, to submit complaints against facilities. That said, the comptroller’s findings put more of the blame on how the commission operates.
The comptroller’s recommendation was for management to put a plan together that gets surveys done and complaints investigated. The commission said it had made some headway in doing just that, like putting more resources into recruitment and cutting on costs.
