Alaris Health at The Chateau: Medication Failures - NJ
The resident, identified as R160, scored one out of 15 on a mental status exam, indicating severe cognitive impairment from dementia and Alzheimer's disease. Yet when the facility's consulting pharmacist recommended increasing the resident's Aricept and Namenda doses in August, September, and October 2024, the physician never responded.
Federal inspectors found the physician had merely initialed the recommendation forms without documenting any response or rationale for ignoring the clinical advice.
The consulting pharmacist told inspectors during a January 9 interview that she had recommended increasing the resident's Aricept dose after four weeks "due to the resident being on a low dose at the beginning and you want to titrate up to get the maximum effectiveness of the medication." She confirmed making follow-up recommendations two more times that went unanswered.
"The two medications are intended to slow the progression of the Dementia/Alzheimer's," the pharmacist explained.
Medication records showed the resident remained on the same low doses originally ordered in mid-August 2024 through the day of inspection in January 2025. The resident had been prescribed Donepezil five milligrams at bedtime and Memantine five milligrams twice daily.
The facility's own policy required physicians to either implement pharmacy recommendations or document their rationale for rejection. The policy stated that "if the physician chooses not to act upon the pharmacy consultant recommendations, the physician will communicate with a licensed professional."
Director of Nursing confirmed to inspectors that the consulting pharmacist had made recommendations three separate times with no documented physician response.
The medication management failure was just one of several problems inspectors discovered during their January visit to the 96 Parkway facility.
Eight resident rooms on the second floor had deteriorated to the point where they no longer provided a homelike environment. Inspectors found peeling paint around sinks, broken closet doors missing handles, sagging ceiling tiles, and rusted heating units.
In room 225W, closet doors wouldn't shut and one was missing a handle. Paint peeled from the closet doors and walls around the sink. A ceiling tile sagged above the bed.
Room 213W had paint peeling around the sink with cracks between the sink and wall. Room 209 showed similar paint deterioration around the sink area.
Room 211D had paint peeling around the sink and a rusted heating radiator with peeling paint. Room 227P showed paint peeling by the window and rust on the heating vent.
Room 262 had peeling paint on closet doors and walls around the sink. Room 230 had a large 12-by-12-inch section of peeling paint above a resident's headboard and a sagging ceiling tile at the entrance.
Room 229 showed paint peeling around the sink area.
The facility's activity room presented a safety hazard. A broken piece of formica on a half-wall ledge left a sharp pointed edge sticking up at wheelchair height, creating injury risk for residents who might use the wall for support.
Despite facility policy requiring maintenance staff to conduct daily inspections and routine checks of rooms and common areas, the maintenance logbook showed no repair requests for painting, closet doors, ceiling tiles, or the activity room hazard.
Regional Maintenance Director and facility Maintenance Director confirmed during the inspection tour that the rooms needed painting and closet door repairs.
Hallway handrails throughout the second floor north building were in disrepair or missing entirely. Inspectors found handrails secured with duct tape and foam, missing handrails in front of the women's shower and between elevators, and one handrail that had pulled away from the wall.
The maintenance director claimed they were waiting for replacement caps to fix the handrails but could not provide invoices or orders showing parts had been purchased.
A unit manager said she wasn't sure how long the handrails needed repair and confirmed no maintenance requests appeared in logbooks. A licensed practical nurse was unsure how long duct tape and foam had been used to secure handrails, noting only that maintenance was "working on the handrails last night."
The Assistant Administrator mentioned hearing about plans to remodel the second floor but didn't know when work would begin.
The inspection also revealed confusion about pressure ulcer notification protocols. When asked about notifying families of new pressure ulcers, a registered nurse said physicians and families should be notified immediately with documentation in progress notes.
The Administrator, however, stated that pressure ulcer notification was only covered at discharge in discharge instructions regarding skin treatment. She said she didn't know if families were notified before discharge.
The facility's consultant pharmacy policy required any medication irregularities to be documented in written reports to the attending physician and director of nursing, with physician resolution noted. When physicians chose not to act on recommendations, they were supposed to communicate with licensed professionals.
For resident R160, those communications never happened. The resident continued receiving the same inadequate dementia medication doses while cognitive decline progressed unchecked. The consulting pharmacist's clinical expertise was reduced to initials on ignored recommendation forms.
The maintenance failures created an environment far from the homelike setting federal regulations require. Residents lived with peeling paint, broken fixtures, and safety hazards while maintenance logs showed no recognition of obvious problems.
Full Inspection Report
The details above represent a summary of key findings. View the complete inspection report for Alaris Health At the Chateau from 2025-01-09 including all violations, facility responses, and corrective action plans.
Additional Resources
Data source: Official federal inspection data from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS).
Editorial process: AI-synthesized regulatory data, reviewed for accuracy by our editorial team.
Professional review: All content reviewed by Christopher F. Nesbitt, Sr., NH EMT & BU-trained Paralegal.
Last verified: June 18, 2026 · Our methodology
Alaris Health at The Chateau in ROCHELLE PARK, NJ was cited for violations during a health inspection on January 9, 2025.
The resident, identified as R160, scored one out of 15 on a mental status exam, indicating severe cognitive impairment from dementia and Alzheimer's disease.
Health inspections identify deficiencies that facilities must correct. Violations range from minor documentation issues to serious safety concerns. Review the full report below for specific details and facility response.