Westport Rehab: Medication Education Failure - VA
That finding sits at the center of a federal complaint inspection completed October 22, 2025, at Westport Rehabilitation and Nursing Center, located at 7300 Forest Ave in Richmond.
Lorazepam, sold under the brand name Ativan, works by slowing activity in the brain. It is prescribed to relieve anxiety. That slowing effect is also why the drug carries real risks, particularly for older adults in a nursing facility setting, where falls, confusion, and respiratory depression can follow sedation that goes unmonitored or unexplained.
The inspection found that staff failed to provide education to the patient or their responsible party about those risks. No information was given before inspectors left the building.
The deficiency was categorized as minimal harm or potential for actual harm, and inspectors noted that few residents were affected. Those classifications sit toward the lower end of the federal harm scale. But they describe the outcome that was documented, not the outcome that was possible.
A patient who does not know they are taking a benzodiazepine does not know to report dizziness. Does not know to ask for help before standing. Does not know why they feel the way they feel. The medication works whether or not the person receiving it understands what it is doing to their brain.
The inspection report offers no detail about how long the patient had been receiving lorazepam before the lapse was identified, or whether any adverse effects occurred in the interim. It does not say whether the patient asked questions that went unanswered, or whether the subject of the medication was simply never raised. What it says is that the education did not happen, and that no additional information was provided before inspectors exited.
Westport Rehabilitation and Nursing Center has not publicly responded to the findings. The inspection report directs anyone seeking information about the facility's plan to correct the deficiency to contact the nursing home directly or reach the state survey agency.
The facility sits in a residential stretch of Richmond's West End. It accepts Medicare and Medicaid patients. The complaint that triggered this inspection, and who filed it, is not identified in the report.
What the report does identify is a straightforward failure: a person was given a drug that slows brain activity, and the people responsible for their care did not explain that to them. The federal government considered that worth a formal citation.
The patient's name does not appear in the report. Neither does anything about what came next.
Full Inspection Report
The details above represent a summary of key findings. View the complete inspection report for Westport Rehabilitation and Nursing Center from 2025-10-22 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 7, 2026 · Our methodology
WESTPORT REHABILITATION AND NURSING CENTER in RICHMOND, VA was cited for violations during a health inspection on October 22, 2025.
Lorazepam, sold under the brand name Ativan, works by slowing activity in the brain.
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.