Family of Caring at Park Ridge: Lift Transfer Failure - NJ
The inspection, conducted October 23, 2025, at Family of Caring at Park Ridge LLC, found that on September 6, 2025, staff performed a Hoyer lift transfer on Resident #1 without following the resident's care plan, which required a two-person assist. The second person brought in to help was a family member, identified in inspection records as Responsible Representative #2, who had received no training whatsoever in how to operate a portable lift.
A certified nursing assistant, identified as CNA #4, told inspectors she had been educated and disciplined by management after the incident. That consequence applied to her. Nobody had trained the family member before putting them in position to help move a person who could not safely be lifted alone.
When surveyors asked the Licensed Nursing Home Administrator for documentation of any education provided to the family member about Hoyer transfers, none was produced. At 4:00 PM that same day, the family member confirmed by phone that they had never received any formal instruction on the lift. An hour later, the administrator sat down with the Director of Nursing, the Regional Director of Nursing, and the Assistant Director of Nursing and confirmed it directly: the family member had no formal training. The explanation offered was that the family member was around the building often.
Being a familiar face is not a qualification to operate mechanical lifting equipment on a person who cannot support their own weight.
The facility's own portable lift policy, dated October 2025, states that staff must review the resident's care plan before a transfer to assess for any special needs, and that if a resident cannot participate in the lifting procedure, two nursing assistants are required. Not two people. Two nursing assistants. The policy the facility wrote for itself was not followed on September 6, and when inspectors arrived seven weeks later, administrators were still framing the lapse as something that had been handled, because one aide had been disciplined.
What had not been handled: any training for the person who actually helped with the lift.
Hoyer lifts, also called mechanical or portable patient lifts, are used to transfer residents who cannot move themselves, typically from a bed to a wheelchair or a shower chair. Improper use, including inadequate staffing, incorrect sling positioning, or failure to account for a resident's specific physical needs, can result in falls, fractures, soft tissue injuries, or worse. The care plan requirement for a two-person assist exists precisely because the resident's condition made a solo transfer unsafe.
Inspectors cited the facility under F0689, which covers the obligation to ensure residents receive care in a manner that prevents accidents. The level of harm was classified as minimal harm or potential for actual harm, meaning inspectors found no documented injury from this specific transfer. That classification reflects what was recorded, not necessarily what the experience was for the resident being lifted by someone who had never been shown how to do it.
The citation covered a few residents, and the inspection was filed as a complaint survey, meaning someone had already raised a concern before inspectors arrived.
CNA #4 was disciplined. The family member was never trained. The administrators who confirmed all of this in a 4:15 PM meeting with four senior staff present offered no explanation for why, in the seven weeks between September 6 and October 23, no one had thought to formalize what the family member was apparently being asked to do informally on a regular basis.
The resident whose care plan was bypassed that day has not been named in public records.
Full Inspection Report
The details above represent a summary of key findings. View the complete inspection report for Family of Caring At Park Ridge LLC 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 7, 2026 · Our methodology
FAMILY OF CARING AT PARK RIDGE LLC in PARK RIDGE, NJ was cited for violations during a health inspection on October 23, 2025.
A certified nursing assistant, identified as CNA #4, told inspectors she had been educated and disciplined by management after the incident.
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.