FLORENCE, SC — Federal health inspectors issued the most serious level of regulatory citation against Faith Healthcare Center after a complaint investigation found the facility failed to keep residents safe from accident hazards and did not provide adequate supervision to prevent accidents.
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) conducted the investigation on September 5, 2025, resulting in a citation under federal regulatory tag F0689, which governs accident prevention and environmental safety in nursing homes. The deficiency was classified at Scope/Severity Level J — an isolated finding of immediate jeopardy to resident health or safety.
What an Immediate Jeopardy Citation Means
The federal government uses a grid system to classify nursing home deficiencies by both their scope (how many residents are affected) and their severity (how serious the harm or potential harm is). The scale runs from Level A, which represents the least serious findings, through Level L, which represents the most serious.
Level J sits in the immediate jeopardy tier, meaning inspectors determined that the facility's noncompliance caused, or was likely to cause, serious injury, harm, impairment, or death to one or more residents. In this case, the "isolated" scope designation indicates the situation involved a limited number of residents rather than a facility-wide pattern.
Immediate jeopardy citations are relatively uncommon. According to CMS data, most nursing home deficiencies fall in the D through F range — findings that represent potential for more than minimal harm but do not rise to actual harm or immediate danger. When inspectors do issue an immediate jeopardy finding, it triggers an accelerated enforcement process that can include civil monetary penalties, denial of payment for new admissions, and in the most serious cases, termination from the Medicare and Medicaid programs.
The facility has since corrected the deficiency. CMS records list the correction status as "Past Non-Compliance," meaning the facility addressed the cited condition and was found to be back in compliance during a subsequent review.
Accident Hazards and Supervision Failures
The specific regulatory requirement at issue — F0689 — is one of the most commonly cited deficiency tags in the federal nursing home inspection system. It requires that facilities ensure the environment is free from accident hazards and that residents receive adequate supervision and assistive devices to prevent avoidable accidents.
In practice, F0689 violations can involve a wide range of scenarios. Falls are the most common trigger, but citations under this tag also arise from incidents involving burns, elopement (residents leaving the facility unsupervised), entrapment in bed rails, exposure to hazardous chemicals or equipment, and other preventable injuries.
The regulatory language requires facilities to take a proactive approach. It is not enough to respond to accidents after they occur. Nursing homes must assess each resident's individual risk factors, develop care plans that address those risks, implement interventions to reduce the likelihood of accidents, and monitor whether those interventions are working.
When a facility receives an immediate jeopardy citation under F0689, it typically means an incident occurred — or conditions existed — where a resident faced a direct and serious threat that the facility could and should have prevented through proper hazard management and supervision protocols.
Why Accident Prevention Is a Critical Standard
Falls and other preventable accidents represent one of the most significant safety concerns in long-term care settings. Residents of nursing facilities face elevated baseline risk for accidents due to advanced age, mobility limitations, cognitive impairment, medication side effects, and underlying medical conditions.
Among elderly individuals, falls are the leading cause of both fatal and non-fatal injuries. A hip fracture resulting from a fall in a nursing home resident over the age of 65 carries a one-year mortality rate between 20 and 30 percent, according to published medical literature. Even falls that do not result in fractures can cause traumatic brain injuries, soft tissue damage, chronic pain, and a psychological phenomenon known as "post-fall syndrome," in which residents develop such intense fear of falling again that they limit their own mobility, leading to further physical decline.
Beyond falls, environmental hazards in nursing homes can include wet floors without warning signs, improperly stored chemicals, malfunctioning equipment, inadequate lighting, obstructed pathways, and temperature extremes. Each of these represents a preventable risk when facilities maintain proper safety protocols.
Adequate supervision is equally critical. Residents with dementia or other forms of cognitive impairment may not recognize dangers in their environment. Residents taking medications that cause dizziness, drowsiness, or blood pressure changes require closer monitoring during transfers and ambulation. The standard of care requires that supervision levels match each resident's assessed needs — a one-size-fits-all approach does not meet federal requirements.
Federal Regulatory Framework
The F0689 tag falls under the broader category of Quality of Life and Care Deficiencies in the federal nursing home survey process. This category encompasses standards that directly affect residents' daily experience, safety, and clinical outcomes.
Under the federal regulatory framework, nursing homes participating in Medicare and Medicaid must comply with requirements established in 42 CFR Part 483, the Conditions of Participation for Long-Term Care Facilities. These regulations set minimum standards for resident care, safety, staffing, and facility operations. State survey agencies conduct inspections on behalf of CMS, typically visiting each certified facility at least once every 12 to 15 months for a standard survey, with additional visits triggered by complaints.
The complaint investigation at Faith Healthcare Center represents this latter category. When a complaint is filed — whether by a resident, family member, staff member, or other concerned party — the state survey agency is required to investigate within a timeframe determined by the severity of the allegations. Complaints alleging immediate jeopardy or actual harm must be investigated within two to ten working days of receipt.
The Enforcement Process
When immediate jeopardy is identified, federal regulations require the facility to take immediate action to remove the jeopardy. The facility must submit a plan of correction that addresses not only the specific situation that triggered the citation but also the systemic factors that allowed it to occur.
CMS has several enforcement tools at its disposal:
- Civil monetary penalties can range from $50 to $10,000 per day for ongoing noncompliance, or $1,000 to $10,000 per instance of noncompliance - Denial of payment for new Medicare and Medicaid admissions, which directly affects the facility's revenue - State monitoring, in which the state survey agency places an independent monitor in the facility - Temporary management, in which CMS installs a temporary manager to oversee facility operations - Termination from the Medicare and Medicaid programs, the most severe sanction
For immediate jeopardy findings, CMS policy requires that the jeopardy be removed within 23 calendar days, or the facility faces termination. In Faith Healthcare Center's case, the "Past Non-Compliance" status indicates the facility successfully addressed the deficiency within the required timeframe.
Faith Healthcare Center's Record in Context
Florence, South Carolina, is located in the Pee Dee region of the state and serves as a regional healthcare hub for surrounding rural counties. Long-term care facilities in this area serve a population that includes a significant proportion of residents who depend on Medicaid for their care, which can affect facility resources and staffing levels.
An immediate jeopardy citation is a significant regulatory event for any nursing home. While the facility has corrected the cited deficiency, the finding becomes part of the facility's permanent inspection record, accessible to the public through the CMS Care Compare website. Prospective residents and their families can review this record when making decisions about long-term care placement.
What Families Should Know
For families with loved ones at Faith Healthcare Center or any nursing facility, an immediate jeopardy citation should prompt a conversation with facility administration about what occurred, what corrective measures were implemented, and what ongoing monitoring is in place to prevent recurrence.
Key questions to ask include:
- What specific incident or condition led to the citation? - What changes have been made to staffing, training, or environmental safety? - Has the facility undergone a follow-up survey confirming compliance? - What is the facility's plan for sustaining the corrective measures?
Residents and families also have the right to file complaints with the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control (DHEC), which conducts nursing home surveys on behalf of CMS in the state. Complaints can be filed anonymously and are required by law to be investigated.
The full inspection report for Faith Healthcare Center is available through the CMS Care Compare database, where families can review the facility's complete regulatory history, staffing data, quality measures, and overall star rating.
Full Inspection Report
The details above represent a summary of key findings. View the complete inspection report for Faith Healthcare Center from 2025-09-05 including all violations, facility responses, and corrective action plans.