Spokane Health & Rehab: Consent Form Gaps Found - WA
Federal inspectors who visited Spokane Health & Rehabilitation on April 24, 2025 found that informed consent documents for certain medications were missing black box warnings, the most serious category of drug warning the Food and Drug Administration issues. These are not minor side effects. Black box warnings flag risks that are serious or life-threatening, the kind of information a person needs before they can meaningfully decide whether to take a medication at all.
The forms residents signed didn't include them.
Staff X, a licensed practical nurse at the facility, told inspectors on April 22 that informed consents were obtained before the first dose of each medication. She added that it was the resident's choice to take the medication and that they needed to be aware of the risks. She was right about that last part. The consents just weren't giving them those risks in full.
The Assistant Director of Nursing, identified in the inspection report as Staff C, said the same thing. Informed consents were obtained before the first dose. She told inspectors it was important so residents could make a decision and acknowledge the side effects.
Both staff members described a process that, in their telling, was working as intended. Consents before the first dose. Residents informed. Choices made. What neither of them addressed was the gap between what the consent process was supposed to accomplish and what the forms themselves actually contained.
Informed consent is not a signature. It is the information behind the signature. A resident who signs a form agreeing to take a medication with serious or life-threatening risks, without ever seeing those risks listed, has not consented in any meaningful sense. They have signed a piece of paper.
The inspection report does not name the specific medications involved, nor does it identify how many residents were affected beyond noting that "some" residents were impacted. The level of harm was assessed as minimal harm or potential for actual harm, the lower end of the violation scale. The deficiency did not rise to the level of immediate jeopardy.
That assessment reflects where regulators placed it in the enforcement hierarchy. It does not change what happened in practice. Residents at Spokane Health & Rehabilitation were handed consent forms, asked to sign them, and sent to the medication line without the complete picture of what they were agreeing to put in their bodies.
The inspection report cross-references several additional deficiency tags, suggesting the consent documentation failures were part of a broader set of findings from the same survey. The facility is located at North 6025 Assembly in Spokane.
What the two staff members described to inspectors was a system they believed was functioning. Consents before the first dose. Residents making choices. The Assistant Director of Nursing called it important. And in the version of events both staff offered, it was happening correctly.
The forms told a different story.
A resident sitting across from a nurse, pen in hand, deciding whether to take a medication they may not fully understand, is relying on that piece of paper to tell them what they need to know. At Spokane Health & Rehabilitation, for some number of residents, it didn't.
Full Inspection Report
The details above represent a summary of key findings. View the complete inspection report for Spokane Health & Rehabilitation from 2025-04-24 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: October 26, 2026 · Our methodology
SPOKANE HEALTH & REHABILITATION in SPOKANE, WA was cited for violations during a health inspection on April 24, 2025.
These are not minor side effects.
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.