Embassy of Wyoming Valley: Drug Storage Failures - PA
Fifty minutes later, at 8:10 PM, an inspector returned to the same refrigerator at Embassy of Wyoming Valley. The temperature had not changed. It still read 50 degrees. Only then had the medications been pulled out and relocated to the second floor.
The registered nurse on duty confirmed that the director of nursing had been told about the problem. The nursing home administrator, reached around 8:30 that same evening, acknowledged the third-floor refrigerator was not maintaining an acceptable temperature and said it was being replaced.
That was the third floor. Two days later, inspectors walked into the medication room on the second floor, where those relocated medications had been sent.
The refrigerator there contained multiple unopened Ozempic pens, a medication used to help lower blood sugar in diabetic patients. There was no thermometer inside the refrigerator. There was no temperature monitoring log available to show whether anyone had checked the temperature that day, or the day before, or any day prior.
The staff member present, identified in the inspection report only as Employee 2, acknowledged both items should have been there. A thermometer should be present, the employee said. A log should be maintained so licensed staff can verify the temperature is within range.
The regional nurse consultant, interviewed by inspectors around noon on March 13, confirmed what the employee had already said: every medication refrigerator in the building was supposed to have a thermometer inside it, and licensed staff were supposed to check and record the temperature at least once daily.
That standard had not been met on either floor.
The facility's own medication storage policy, last reviewed just three weeks before the inspection on February 19, 2025, stated that medications requiring refrigeration must be kept between 36 and 46 degrees Fahrenheit in a secured refrigerator with a thermometer to allow temperature monitoring. The policy existed. The thermometer on the second floor did not.
What the inspection does not answer is how long the third-floor refrigerator had been running warm before the evening of March 11. The thermometer read 50 degrees when the inspector first observed it. It still read 50 degrees nearly an hour later. There is no record in the report of when the temperature first climbed out of range, or whether anyone had checked it that morning, or the day before.
Ozempic requires consistent refrigeration to remain effective. The inspection report does not identify which residents were receiving the medications stored on either floor, or whether any resident received a medication that had been compromised by improper storage.
Federal inspectors classified the violation as causing minimal harm or potential for actual harm, with few residents affected. The deficiency was cited under Pennsylvania nursing services and pharmacy services regulations.
The facility is located at 50 North Pennsylvania Avenue in Wilkes-Barre.
What the inspection leaves open is the gap between a policy reviewed and approved in February and a refrigerator with no thermometer found in March. Someone signed off on that policy. Someone stocked that second-floor refrigerator with Ozempic pens. The log that should have shown daily temperature checks was not there to review, which means either the checks were not being done, or the records were not being kept, or both.
The regional nurse consultant did not dispute what inspectors found.
Full Inspection Report
The details above represent a summary of key findings. View the complete inspection report for Embassy of Wyoming Valley from 2025-03-14 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.
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Professional review: All content reviewed by Christopher F. Nesbitt, Sr., NH EMT & BU-trained Paralegal.
Last verified: November 6, 2026 · Our methodology
EMBASSY OF WYOMING VALLEY in WILKES BARRE, PA was cited for violations during a health inspection on March 14, 2025.
Fifty minutes later, at 8:10 PM, an inspector returned to the same refrigerator at Embassy of Wyoming Valley.
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.