Summit Health and Living: Lift Drop Injures Resident - IN
The resident, identified in inspection records as Resident B, was already in the air when a nursing assistant the facility identifies as CNA 2 arrived. The wheelchair beneath him was not reclined into the position needed for a safe transfer. The resident began to fall. The machine tipped over. CNA 2 tried to catch him and couldn't.
Resident B complained of a headache. Staff used the lift pad he had fallen onto to slide him back toward the bed and get him off the floor. A registered nurse assessed him for injuries. He was sent to the hospital.
The resident later told inspectors he couldn't remember who had been involved or the specifics of what happened. He remembered the headache. He remembered being sent to the hospital.
The incident triggered a complaint inspection at Summit Health and Living, conducted on August 20, 2025. What inspectors found was straightforward: one staff member had operated a mechanical lift alone, in a facility where the manufacturer's own guidelines, and the facility's own policy, required two.
The manufacturer is Invacare. Its guidelines state that two assistants should be used for all lifting preparation and all transfers, in both directions. The facility's policy, last revised just weeks before the incident on July 28, 2025, and provided to inspectors by the Director of Nursing on the morning of the inspection, says staff will perform mechanical lifts according to the manufacturer's instructions.
Every staff member interviewed said the same thing. CNA 5, speaking with inspectors at 11:14 a.m., said staff have always been required to use two people on mechanical lifts. CNA 6, interviewed eleven minutes later, said staff always used two people and she had never had trouble finding someone to help. The registered nurse who responded to the yelling from Resident B's room, RN 4, said she was told after the fact that the resident had already been elevated when CNA 2 arrived. That meant someone had started the lift alone.
Nobody interviewed by inspectors identified who that person was by name.
The administrator, speaking with inspectors at 1:00 p.m., said the facility had recently amended its transfer policy to formally require two staff members for mechanical lifts. Before that amendment, the administrator said, the facility relied on the manufacturer's recommendation, which also required two people. The policy change, in other words, formalized a requirement that had existed all along.
The maintenance supervisor checked the lift after the incident and found nothing mechanically wrong with it. The machine worked as designed. What failed was the decision to operate it alone.
CNA 2's account, given to inspectors at 12:03 p.m., was the most detailed. She walked into the room and saw Resident B already elevated, suspended over a high-backed reclining wheelchair that had not been positioned correctly for a transfer. She watched him start to fall. She reached for him. The machine tipped. She couldn't stop it.
Inspectors cited the facility under the federal tag covering abuse and neglect, F0600, finding the incident represented neglect that caused the resident minimal harm or potential for actual harm. The citation is tied to a complaint filed with the state.
Resident B went to the hospital with a headache after hitting the floor. The inspection report does not say what the hospital found, or whether he was discharged, or what happened to him after that.
Full Inspection Report
The details above represent a summary of key findings. View the complete inspection report for Summit Health and Living from 2025-08-20 including all violations, facility responses, and corrective action plans.
Additional Resources
Data source: Official federal inspection data from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS).
Editorial process: AI-synthesized regulatory data, reviewed for accuracy by our editorial team.
Professional review: All content reviewed by Christopher F. Nesbitt, Sr., NH EMT & BU-trained Paralegal.
Last verified: July 3, 2026 · Our methodology
SUMMIT HEALTH AND LIVING in SUMMITVILLE, IN was cited for violations during a health inspection on August 20, 2025.
The resident, identified in inspection records as Resident B, was already in the air when a nursing assistant the facility identifies as CNA 2 arrived.
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.