By Associated Press - Friday, January 22, 2021

BURLINGTON, Vt. (AP) - A state health inspector has found that some residents of a long-term care and skilled nursing facility in Burlington, Vermont, failed to get doses of required medication and proper wound care and were left to sit in their urine amid a coronavirus outbreak at the facility last month.

The Vermont Department of Disabilities, Aging and Independent Living and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services did the inspection at Elderwood at Burlington on December 9 and 10, the Burlington Free Press reported.

Up to twelve residents surveyed said Elderwood had failed to give them dosages of their medications for issues ranging from depression, high blood pressure, epilepsy, and Type 2 diabetes, the newspaper reported. Another resident said staff had not changed the dressing on that person’s stage 4 pressure ulcer for at least two days and investigators said the dressing change had not been done on five occasions in December.

The survey was done following recent anonymous complaints about the facility. A subsequent report did not find any instances of infection control failing to stop the spread of COVID-19, the newspaper reported.

The facility said in a statement on Friday that it is committed to working with regulatory authorities to ensure it maintains high standards of care and appropriately complies with all guidance.

“Elderwood at Burlington is and always has been committed to high quality, safe resident care. Throughout the pandemic, which has stretched the resources of healthcare providers across the country, our staff have worked with diligence and dedication to care for residents,” the statement said.

The report states that the facility continues to hire, train and schedule enough competent staff to meet the needs of residents and surpass state minimum staffing requirements.

The next steps for Elderwood are to “develop a plan of correction for the staffing issues, including during an outbreak,” said Mike Smith, secretary of the Vermont Agency of Health and Human Services. He said surprise inspections will continue at the facility to ensure that it’s safe.

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