Loyalhanna Care Center: Infection Control Failures - PA
Inspectors from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services visited the facility at 535 McFarland Road on March 17, 2025, and found the lapse themselves. When they walked past the room of Resident 283 at 12:40 that afternoon, there was nothing on the door to alert staff that she required enhanced barrier precautions, and no gloves, gowns, or other protective gear staged outside for anyone entering.
Resident 283 had been admitted just the day before. Her admission assessment, dated March 16, noted that she was cognitively intact and independent with her daily care. It also noted that she had sepsis caused by pseudomonas, a bacterial infection that can become fatal when the body's immune response spirals out of control. She had a midline catheter, a flexible tube threaded into a vein in her upper arm to deliver fluids and medication directly into her bloodstream.
The Director of Nursing confirmed to inspectors on March 19 that Resident 283 should have had an enhanced barrier precaution sign on her door. The director also confirmed that personal protective equipment should have been available for staff to use before entering.
The same problem existed down the hall.
Resident 75, a man with heart failure, obstructive uropathy, and diabetes, was found lying in bed during the facility tour at 10:50 that morning. He had an indwelling Foley catheter, a soft plastic tube inserted into his bladder to drain urine. Like Resident 283, he had no precaution sign on his door and no protective equipment visible in or around his room.
A licensed practical nurse interviewed at 11:07 a.m. confirmed that Resident 75 had the catheter and should have had an enhanced barrier precaution sign posted. The Director of Nursing said the same thing two days later.
Both residents were cognitively intact. Both knew where they were and what was happening around them.
Enhanced barrier precautions exist to prevent the spread of organisms that are resistant to antibiotics or otherwise difficult to treat. The signs and the equipment outside a room are the mechanism, the physical prompt that tells every person walking through a door to put on protection before they make contact with a resident or anything in the room. Without the sign, a staff member has no way of knowing the precaution is in place. Without the equipment staged and ready, even a staff member who knows may skip the step.
The inspection cited Loyalhanna under Pennsylvania Department of Health regulations governing licensee responsibility, facility management, and nursing services.
Loyalhanna Care Center is a licensed nursing facility in Westmoreland County. The inspection was completed March 20, 2025. CMS classified the deficiency at a level of minimal harm or potential for actual harm, affecting few residents.
The classification describes what inspectors can document. It does not describe what Resident 283, admitted one day earlier with sepsis already in her bloodstream, experienced sitting on the side of her bed while the door behind her carried no warning at all.
Full Inspection Report
The details above represent a summary of key findings. View the complete inspection report for Loyalhanna Care Center from 2025-03-20 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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Last verified: November 3, 2026 · Our methodology
LOYALHANNA CARE CENTER in LATROBE, PA was cited for violations during a health inspection on March 20, 2025.
Inspectors from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services visited the facility at 535 McFarland Road on March 17, 2025, and found the lapse themselves.
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.