Stanton County Health Care: Infection Control Failures - KS
The August 28 inspection at Stanton County Health Care Facility, a 22-bed long-term care unit in Johnson, Kansas, found that staff had failed to follow a physician's order, in place since July 2023, requiring Enhanced Barrier Precautions for the resident, identified in inspection records as Resident 1.
Enhanced Barrier Precautions are a specific infection control protocol designed to reduce the spread of multidrug-resistant organisms — bacteria that have developed resistance to multiple types of antibiotics. The protocol requires staff to wear gowns and gloves during high-contact care: bathing, dressing, transfers, hygiene, and toileting. The resident's own care plan, updated in July 2025, spelled out exactly when that protective equipment was required. The physician had ordered the precautions more than a year before inspectors arrived.
Resident 1 had dementia with severe cognitive impairment, fluctuating consciousness, and was dependent on staff for every aspect of daily functioning. She was frequently incontinent of bowel, had been treated for acute bladder inflammation with blood in her urine, and was receiving antibiotics. Her catheter had recently caused open blisters where the securing adhesive met her skin. Progress notes from August 15 documented one intact blister and one open wound at that site. Two days later, notes recorded her brief was wet and staff had needed to advance the catheter and reinflate its balloon with sterile saline.
On the morning of August 26, two certified nursing aides, identified in the report as CNA M and CNA N, brought Resident 1 to her room, put on gloves and gowns, and used a mechanical full-body lift to move her from her wheelchair to the toilet. They provided toileting hygiene, reattached her brief, and positioned her in bed. Then CNA M picked up the lift sling and took it out of the room.
The sling, which had been in direct contact with a resident who had an active catheter, open skin wounds, a history of resistant-organism-level infection precautions, and recent bowel incontinence, was shared equipment. CNA M told inspectors it was used for two other residents as well.
The following morning, Administrative Nurse E told inspectors the facility should purchase a dedicated sling for Resident 1's sole use.
Should. Not had. Not would. Should.
The Enhanced Barrier Precautions protocol exists precisely because multidrug-resistant organisms move easily in nursing facilities, and because equipment that touches one resident's skin, bodily fluids, or wounds can carry those organisms to the next person it touches. The facility's own written policy, updated in March 2025, acknowledged that MDRO transmission is common in nursing facilities and contributes to what the policy called "substantial resident morbidity and mortality."
The care plan directing gown and glove use during transfers was in place. The physician's order was in place. The facility's own policy was in place. On August 26, CNA M walked a shared sling out of the room of a catheter patient with open skin wounds and carried it to another resident.
Inspectors cited the deficiency as causing minimal harm or potential for actual harm, and noted the lapse affected many residents — meaning the shared sling had put the broader population of the 22-bed unit at risk. The sample reviewed during the inspection included 12 residents.
Stanton County Health Care's census at the time of inspection was 22 residents. The facility had 22 people in its care. The sling used on Resident 1 that morning was shared among at least three of them.
The administrative nurse who acknowledged, the day after inspectors observed the transfer, that the facility should buy a dedicated sling, did not say when that purchase would happen, or whether it already had.
Full Inspection Report
The details above represent a summary of key findings. View the complete inspection report for Stanton County Health Care Facility Ltcu from 2025-08-28 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.
Professional review: All content reviewed by Christopher F. Nesbitt, Sr., NH EMT & BU-trained Paralegal.
Last verified: September 29, 2026 · Our methodology
STANTON COUNTY HEALTH CARE FACILITY LTCU in JOHNSON, KS was cited for violations during a health inspection on August 28, 2025.
The protocol requires staff to wear gowns and gloves during high-contact care: bathing, dressing, transfers, hygiene, and toileting.
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.