Inadequate Surety Bond for Resident Funds
Summary
The facility failed to secure a surety bond that adequately protected the personal funds of residents deposited with the facility for three consecutive months. The facility's policy, dated 7/1/24, mandates the purchase of a surety bond to safeguard residents' financial security, with an annual evaluation to ensure sufficient coverage. However, a review of the Resident Trust Surety Bond effective 11/1/24 revealed a bond value of $193,915.84, which was insufficient compared to the $252,107.96 in resident funds held by the facility as of 1/7/25. During an interview on 1/7/25, the Nursing Home Administrator confirmed the inadequacy of the bond amount in protecting all resident financial funds as required by PA Code: 201.18(e)(1) Management.
Plan Of Correction
1. The facilities Resident Trust Surety Bond was increased to $252,200.00 on 1/7/25 to protect the residents financial funds deposited in the facility Resident Trust Accounts. 2. The facility will ensure the value of the facilities Surety Bond protects the balance of resident's financial funds that are deposited in the facility Resident Trust Fund. 3. The NHA will educate the new BOM on the requirement to protect the total amount of resident's financial funds that are deposited in the facilities Resident Trust Fund by ensuring the resident Surety Bond value meets or exceeds the value of funds identified in the Facility Trial Balance. 4. The NHA/designee will complete a Facility Trial Balance monthly x 3 and compare the amt to the value of the resident Surety Bond to ensure the resident funds are protected. If the Surety Bond is found to be not enough to protect the residents funds, the Surety Bond will be increased immediately. The results of these audits will be reported to the Quality Assurance Performance Improvement Committee for review, recommendations, and frequency of audits. 5. Date of compliance 2-10-25
Penalty
Resources
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Resident trust funds were not fully covered by adequate surety bond protection. The business office manager confirmed the resident personal funds account balance totaled $40,688.56 for 34 residents, while the CFO confirmed the bond penalty amount was only $10,000 and said it should have been $100,000. Review of the bond and rider showed the lower coverage was in effect before the rider increased it, despite facility policy requiring a surety bond to secure all resident personal funds.
The facility did not maintain a surety bond in an amount sufficient to cover all residents’ personal funds held in trust. Documentation showed that the surety bond in place was for $20,000, while a current account summary listed forty-five residents with a combined trust account balance of $28,733.79. During an interview, the Executive Director confirmed the bond amount, demonstrating that the bond did not fully cover the total resident trust funds managed by the facility.
A review of facility records and staff interviews revealed that the facility did not maintain a surety bond sufficient to cover all resident personal funds on deposit, with account balances exceeding the bond amount for several months. This failure affected the security of personal funds for multiple accounts managed by the facility.
The facility did not maintain a surety bond sufficient to cover all resident funds it managed, as required by policy. On multiple occasions, the balance of resident funds exceeded the bond amount, and the Business Office Manager confirmed that no reviews were conducted to ensure adequate coverage.
A facility failed to maintain a surety bond that matched the current balance of personal funds held in the resident trust fund, affecting 82 residents. The bond was for $45,000, while the trust fund balance was $63,240.36. The Business Office Manager was unable to explain the discrepancy and confirmed there was no policy regarding the surety bond.
A review of records and staff interviews revealed that the facility did not have a valid surety bond in place to cover the total balance of personal funds deposited by 55 residents in the trust fund account. The bond had expired, and key staff were unaware of its status until the survey.
Resident Trust Funds Not Fully Covered by Surety Bond
Penalty
Summary
Assure the security of all personal funds of residents deposited with the facility was not maintained because the facility did not ensure resident personal fund accounts were insured with adequate surety bond coverage to cover the total account balance. During interview and document review, the business office manager confirmed the residents' personal funds accounts totaled $40,688.56 for 34 residents. The CFO confirmed the facility's surety bond for resident personal funds identified a penalty amount of $10,000 and stated the bond should cover $100,000, noting they needed to contact their insurance representative for clarification. Review of surety bond number 2653018 showed a $10,000 bond in effect from 7/23/25 through 7/23/26, and a rider dated 4/23/26 showed the bond increased from $10,000 to $100,000 effective 4/23/26. The facility policy stated it would maintain a surety bond to assure the security of all resident personal funds deposited with the facility.
Insufficient Surety Bond Coverage for Residents’ Trust Funds
Penalty
Summary
The facility failed to assure the security of all personal funds of residents deposited with the facility by not maintaining a surety bond in an amount sufficient to cover the total balance of residents’ trust accounts. On review of documents, the surveyor was provided a surety bond from the facility’s insurance company in the amount of $20,000, effective from 12/08/24 to 12/08/25. The facility also provided a list labeled “Trust- Current Account Balance as of 8/27/25,” which identified forty-five residents with personal funds accounts managed by the facility and showed a current total balance of $28,733.79. In an interview, the Executive Director confirmed that the surety bond amount was $20,000, which was less than the total amount of residents’ funds held in trust, resulting in the deficiency. No additional resident-specific medical history or clinical conditions were described in the report, and the deficiency pertained solely to the financial protection of residents’ personal funds.
Insufficient Surety Bond for Resident Personal Funds
Penalty
Summary
The facility failed to assure the security of all personal funds deposited by residents by not maintaining a sufficient surety bond to cover the total amount of resident funds managed. Review of the facility's policy on Resident Personal Funds indicated that a surety bond or other satisfactory assurance must be in place to secure all resident funds. Examination of bank statements over a six-month period showed that the facility held resident funds exceeding $100,000, with balances ranging from $106,898.12 to $133,831.89 during several months. However, the surety bond in effect during this period was only $100,000, which was not adequate to cover the highest balances held in resident accounts. Interviews with the Administrator and the Director of Regulatory Compliance (DRC) confirmed that the surety bond should be sufficient to cover the total balance of resident funds. The DRC later provided documentation of an increased surety bond amounting to $150,000, but this updated bond only became effective after the period in question and did not retroactively cover the higher balances previously held. As a result, the security of personal funds for 56 accounts managed by the facility was not fully assured during the months when the resident fund balances exceeded the surety bond amount.
Insufficient Surety Bond Coverage for Resident Funds
Penalty
Summary
The facility failed to provide a surety bond in an amount sufficient to safeguard all resident funds managed by the facility. Record review showed that the facility managed funds for 32 residents, and the surety bond in place covered only $30,000.00. However, bank statements for May, June, and July 2025 revealed that on 23 separate days, the daily ledger balance of resident funds exceeded the bond amount, with balances reaching as high as $48,374.65. During an interview, the Business Office Manager confirmed that the facility did not conduct reviews to ensure the surety bond was adequate for the actual balance of resident funds, as this responsibility was handled by the home office. The facility's policy required it to act as a fiduciary and safeguard resident funds, but this was not met due to the insufficient bond coverage.
Insufficient Surety Bond Coverage for Resident Trust Funds
Penalty
Summary
The facility failed to purchase a surety bond in an amount equal to the current balance of personal funds held in the resident trust fund. At the time of the survey, documentation showed that 82 residents had personal funds managed by the facility, with a total balance of $63,240.36. However, the facility's surety bond was only for $45,000.00, which was significantly less than the current trust fund balance. The Business Office Manager confirmed the discrepancy and was unable to provide a clear explanation for why the bond amount did not match the current balance. Additionally, the facility did not have a policy regarding the surety bond. Interviews with the Business Office Manager revealed uncertainty regarding the timing of processing patient pay amounts, which contributed to fluctuations in the trust fund balance. The manager also acknowledged that at least one deceased resident was still listed as having funds in the trust account. Despite being informed of the concern, the facility did not provide documentation or a policy to address the issue of the insufficient surety bond coverage.
Failure to Maintain Valid Surety Bond for Resident Trust Funds
Penalty
Summary
The facility failed to maintain a valid surety bond to secure the personal funds of all residents deposited in the resident trust fund account. Record review showed that the total balance in the Resident Trust Fund Account was $63,647.25 for 55 residents. The Surety Bond Continuation Certificate provided indicated that the bond, which was for $90,000, had expired and was no longer in effect. Staff interviews revealed that the Business Office Manager was unaware of the bond's expiration and deferred responsibility to the corporate office, while the Corporate Nurse Consultant was also unaware that the bond had expired until it was brought to their attention during the survey. The Administrator was not available for interview during the survey.
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