The Canyons Post-Acute: Dialysis Access Failures - CA
The inspection, completed in October 2025, was triggered by a complaint. Inspectors cited the facility under F0698, a tag covering dialysis services. The level of harm was classified as minimal harm or potential for actual harm, affecting a few residents.
What inspectors found, at its core, was a gap between what the facility's own written policies required and what was actually happening on the floor.
The facility had a policy on hemodialysis access care, last revised in September 2010. It was direct: hemodialysis devices may only be accessed by medical personnel who have received training and demonstrated clinical competency in their use. Hemodialysis access points, typically a fistula, graft, or catheter surgically created for dialysis patients, are not incidental equipment. Improper handling can introduce infection, cause clotting, or result in dangerous bleeding. For a dialysis-dependent resident, losing that access point is not a minor setback. It can mean the difference between receiving life-sustaining treatment and not.
The inspection report does not specify exactly who accessed a dialysis device at The Canyons, or what happened as a result. What it documents is that the facility's own standard was not met.
The second failure involved communication. The facility's policy on changes in resident condition or status, revised in May 2017, stated that the facility shall promptly notify the resident, their attending physician, and their representative when a change in medical or mental condition occurs. Inspectors found this wasn't being done consistently for the residents affected.
That policy exists because the people most affected by a change in someone's condition are often the last to hear about it. A daughter who doesn't know her father's kidney function has shifted. A resident who isn't told that something in their own body has changed. The policy was meant to close that gap. At The Canyons, in at least a few cases, it didn't.
The facility's own documents, the policies it wrote and filed and revised, described exactly what should have happened. Inspectors cited the gap between those documents and what residents actually received.
The Canyons Post-Acute is a post-acute and rehabilitation facility in Colton, in San Bernardino County. Dialysis-dependent residents in post-acute settings are among the most medically complex patients a nursing facility can serve. They require scheduled treatment, careful monitoring of their access sites between sessions, and immediate communication when anything changes, because their margin for error is narrow.
The citation does not describe a resident who was harmed by an untrained person accessing their dialysis equipment. It does not name a family member who made a medical decision without knowing their loved one's condition had shifted. The inspection record, as filed, is brief. Two policies. Two failures. A few residents affected.
But the category of harm the federal government assigned, potential for actual harm, reflects what dialysis access failures can become when they go wrong. A contaminated line. A missed notification that delays a physician's response. Outcomes that a policy revision in 2010 or 2017 was specifically designed to prevent.
The facility had the policies. Inspectors found that for at least a few residents, those policies weren't followed.
Full Inspection Report
The details above represent a summary of key findings. View the complete inspection report for The Canyons Post-acute from 2025-10-23 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 11, 2026 · Our methodology
The Canyons Post-Acute in Colton, CA was cited for violations during a health inspection on October 23, 2025.
The inspection, completed in October 2025, was triggered by a complaint.
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.