North Auburn Care: AMA Discharge Failures Documented - WA
The resident, identified in inspection records only as Resident 67, had impaired memory and needed two people to help with personal hygiene, transferring, and toileting. The discharge was classified as Against Medical Advice, meaning the facility's own clinical staff believed the person should stay. But when the family arrived and the paperwork was signed, the process collapsed.
The AMA form itself documented the failure. A box-by-box review showed the medical risks and benefits had not been explained to the family by any staff member, and none of the listed medical risks had been marked. The form was signed. The resident left.
A nursing progress note from that day recorded the departure in a single line: Resident 67 was taken out of the facility AMA by family and AMA paperwork was signed. Four days of nursing notes, from March 10 through March 13, contained no record that anyone had contacted the resident's primary care provider. There was nothing about what medications the resident would need at home, what equipment, or what ongoing care.
When a state inspector sat down with the facility's Clinical Nursing Officer on April 21, the administrator reviewed the record and did not dispute what it showed.
"The facility did not follow the AMA discharge policy," the Clinical Nursing Officer said. Staff should have discussed the reason for leaving with the family, explained the risks and benefits, notified the provider, arranged medications as ordered, and documented all of it. "But they did not."
The facility's own written policy, revised in May 2023, spelled out exactly what an AMA discharge required: complete the form, read it with the resident, carefully explain the information before witnessing the signature, discuss the reasons for leaving, document the risks, the resident's condition at discharge, the transportation method, and what items the resident took. The policy treated the situation the same as a refusal of care.
None of that happened.
Inspectors rated the violation as causing minimal harm or potential for actual harm, and noted it affected few residents. The case involved one resident. But the resident it involved needed round-the-clock support for the most basic physical tasks, had documented memory impairment, and was being sent into a home setting with no confirmed medication plan, no provider notification, and no documented assessment of whether the family understood what they were taking on.
The inspection was completed April 21, 2025. The deficiency was cited under Washington Administrative Code 388-97-0080.
North Auburn Care sits at 2830 I Street Northeast in Auburn. The facility did not dispute the findings.
What the record does not contain is any account of what happened to Resident 67 after the family drove away, whether the medications were ever sorted out, whether the primary care provider was eventually reached, or whether the person who needed two staff members to help them to the toilet was able to get that help at home. The inspection report ends where the paperwork ends, with a signed form and an empty checkbox where the risks were supposed to go.
Full Inspection Report
The details above represent a summary of key findings. View the complete inspection report for North Auburn Care from 2025-04-21 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: October 26, 2026 · Our methodology
North Auburn Care in AUBURN, WA was cited for violations during a health inspection on April 21, 2025.
The discharge was classified as Against Medical Advice, meaning the facility's own clinical staff believed the person should stay.
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.