The September inspection revealed a nursing home struggling with pest control despite contracting a company for twice-monthly treatments. The pest control technician explained his routine during a September 11 interview: spray common areas, kitchen, and offices every visit, then alternate between the two resident hallways.
"He indicated spraying a room included spraying the bathroom, under beds, dressers, nightstands, and under the PTAC unit," inspectors wrote.
But the building itself was compromised. The technician found gaps in seals around air conditioning units in almost every resident room that allowed pests to enter. He placed glue traps under the units to catch what got through.
The front door seal was also damaged. A door sweep strip could help keep bugs out, the technician told inspectors.
The facility's main problems were palmetto bugs and water bugs, both types of cockroaches common in the Southeast.
Three facility managers gave inspectors different explanations for the infestation during interviews conducted within hours of each other.
The Regional Director of Maintenance, assigned to the facility for just two months, blamed the weather. He told inspectors the roach problem stemmed from bugs coming indoors as temperatures dropped. He insisted the facility had no fly problems because double doors kept them out.
"He revealed there were no fly traps at the front doors because there were a double set of doors that kept flies out," the report stated.
The Maintenance Director offered a different perspective during his interview 14 minutes later. He claimed he had not seen roaches or flies anywhere in the facility. He was unfamiliar with the gaps around air conditioning units that the pest control technician had identified as entry points.
The Maintenance Director revealed he had discussed installing an air curtain over the front door with management. The fan-powered device creates an invisible air barrier over doorways to keep pests out. No decision had been made.
Administrator interviews revealed growing concern about the pest control failures. She told inspectors she had been monitoring pest activity and was worried about the effectiveness of current efforts.
The administrator planned to assess their pest control provider's services and ask what else needed to be done. She wanted to "do something different," according to the inspection report.
The facility's pest control approach appeared haphazard. While the company visited twice monthly as contracted, they only sprayed half the resident rooms during each visit. Common areas and the kitchen received treatment every time, but individual rooms went weeks between sprayings.
The pest control technician's placement of glue traps under air conditioning units suggested he was trying to manage an ongoing problem rather than prevent one. His identification of structural issues like damaged door seals and PTAC unit gaps indicated the building's physical condition contributed to the infestation.
Federal inspectors classified the violation as causing minimal harm or potential for actual harm to some residents. The citation fell under infection control standards that require nursing homes to maintain sanitary conditions.
The timing of the complaint inspection in mid-September coincided with what the maintenance director described as seasonal pest migration indoors. But the pest control technician's detailed knowledge of entry points and his routine trap placement suggested the cockroach problem was not new.
Resident 66's report of seeing "lots of small bugs" near his bed provided the human impact of the facility's pest control failures. Living spaces contaminated with cockroaches create unsanitary conditions that can spread bacteria and trigger respiratory problems, particularly concerning for elderly residents with compromised immune systems.
The administrator's acknowledgment that current pest control efforts were ineffective came only after federal inspectors documented the extent of the infestation. Her plan to reassess services suggested the facility had not been adequately monitoring or addressing the problem before the complaint inspection.
The maintenance staff's conflicting accounts of pest activity raised questions about communication and oversight within the facility. While one director blamed weather patterns, another claimed to have seen no evidence of the infestation that pest control technicians were actively treating.
Resident 66 continued living with cockroaches near his bed while facility managers debated solutions like door sweeps and air curtains that remained uninstalled months after identification.
Full Inspection Report
The details above represent a summary of key findings. View the complete inspection report for Pelican Health Randolph LLC from 2025-09-17 including all violations, facility responses, and corrective action plans.