Hopkins Center: Infection Control Failures During COVID - PA
A licensed nurse walked in anyway, wearing nothing.
When inspectors spoke with the nurse, Employee E4, immediately after that observation, she said the precaution for a COVID-positive resident required only hand washing. She was wrong. Inspectors returned the following morning, March 10, 2025, and watched her reenter the same room. This time she wore an N95 mask. No gown. No gloves.
The March 13 inspection of Hopkins Center, a nursing facility at 8100 Washington Lane in Wyncote, documented infection control failures involving multiple staff members, multiple residents, and multiple days.
On March 11, a hospice nurse and a nursing aide were observed providing wound care to Resident R7, a resident on enhanced barrier precaution. Both wore only gloves. The hospice nurse, Employee E16, told inspectors afterward that PPE was not warranted because the precaution was a facility precaution only. The unit manager, Employee E10, offered a similar explanation when asked about the enhanced barrier signs posted on room doors throughout the unit. She said PPE was only necessary when staff were providing direct care on an open wound, and that residents needed to have an active infection or be on antibiotics for the signs to require full protective equipment. When inspectors asked whether all residents with enhanced barrier signs on their doors actually had infections, antibiotics, or catheters, the unit manager acknowledged the signs were posted as a facility protocol.
The precaution signs meant something different to management than they apparently meant to anyone reading them.
Resident R69 tested positive for COVID-19 on March 6, 2025. A care plan initiated that same day listed contact and droplet precautions as required interventions. A physician's order dated March 10 repeated those instructions. A sign on the door of Resident R69's room reflected those orders.
The room was shared. Resident R75, whose records showed a negative COVID test on March 8, was living in the same space as a COVID-positive resident under active isolation orders.
On March 10 at 12:18 p.m., a nurse aide identified as Employee E24 pulled lunch trays from the meal cart for both residents, carried them into the room, set them up, and walked back out into the hallway. She wore a surgical mask. She did not put on an N95 respirator. She did not put on a gown. She did not perform hand hygiene when she left the room.
She walked down the hallway and back into the facility.
The inspection report does not say whether Resident R75 tested positive for COVID in the days that followed. It does not say whether Resident R7's wound worsened. It does not say whether anyone on the unit contracted an infection that week. What the report documents is a pattern in which staff understood the precaution signs on doors to be suggestions, or paperwork, or something that applied only under a specific set of clinical conditions that they themselves got to define.
A nurse who had been told a COVID resident only needed hand washing precautions. A unit manager who said PPE was unnecessary unless staff were actively treating an open wound. A nurse aide who walked out of a COVID isolation room and back into a shared corridor without cleaning her hands.
The sign on the door said keep it closed.
Full Inspection Report
The details above represent a summary of key findings. View the complete inspection report for Hopkins Center from 2025-03-13 including all violations, facility responses, and corrective action plans.
Additional Resources
Data source: This article is based on inspection data downloaded directly from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) via Medicare.gov. CMS releases inspection reports in bulk; we publish the findings as documented by state surveyors in the official Form CMS-2567 Statement of Deficiencies.
Plan of correction: The CMS report we receive does not include the facility's plan of correction. Facilities submit plans of correction separately to state survey agencies and those responses may not be reflected in CMS data at the time of publication. The absence of a plan of correction in our data does not mean one was not filed. Readers who want information about corrective steps taken are encouraged to contact the facility directly or their state survey agency.
Corrections may have occurred: Inspection reports reflect conditions observed on the date of the survey. Facilities may have implemented corrections, staffing changes, additional training, or other remediation since the report was issued. We report what CMS provides and encourage readers to seek current information from the facility.
Editorial process: Inspection findings are extracted from CMS source documents and synthesized using AI, reviewed for factual accuracy against the original report by our editorial team.
Corrections: We strive for accuracy in everything we publish. If you believe any fact in this article is incorrect, please contact us with details, and we will review and correct it promptly.
Professional review: All content reviewed by Christopher F. Nesbitt, Sr., NH EMT & BU-trained Paralegal.
Last verified: November 7, 2026 · Our methodology
HOPKINS CENTER in WYNCOTE, PA was cited for violations during a health inspection on March 13, 2025.
A licensed nurse walked in anyway, wearing nothing.
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.