The newly hired employee at Metropolis Rehab & HCC told state inspectors on September 29 that he had "only worked at the facility for a few days" and previously worked there years ago. When asked about the sanitizer testing strips for the dish machine, he said he didn't know where they were or when the system was last checked.
Inspectors found the test strips at 11:14 AM. When they used them to check the dish machine sanitizer, the strips showed no color change, indicating no sanitizer was present.
The sanitizer line from the container to the dish machine was empty. The dishwasher tried to purge the line to pull sanitizer from the container, but inspectors observed no sanitizer moving through the line to the machine.
Twenty-four minutes later, the dishwasher told inspectors he had the sanitizer system working. When he rechecked it, the sanitizer read approximately 75 parts per million chlorine, which he said should read between 50 and 100 ppm.
But the dishwasher admitted he had "never documented anything for the dish machine on the dish machine log because the numbers did not make sense to him, so he just left it alone."
The administrator wasn't sure when the dish machine was last properly checked. She told inspectors she "did not know the sanitizer was not reading properly."
Facility records revealed a pattern of questionable documentation. The Dish Machine Log dated September 25 showed identical readings of 200 ppm for breakfast, lunch and dinner from dates 1 through 23. On date 24, only breakfast was documented with 200 ppm, then nothing.
The administrator reviewed the log with inspectors and said "she was not sure what the sanitizer should read." She couldn't explain "why there has not been any documentation on the log since the 24th of September."
Before September 24, she said, "it appears whoever filled it in was just following suit of the numbers before theirs."
The facility's own policy requires checking the dishwashing machine each morning before the first dishes are washed and again before the evening meal. The policy states that if a chemical sanitizer is used, staff must "check the concentration using the correct test tape for type of sanitizer in use."
The policy emphasizes that dining services must maintain dishwashing machine operation "to ensure effective cleaning and sanitizing of all tableware and equipment used in the preparation and service of food."
The administrator told inspectors "they have not changed sanitizer in the kitchen."
For an unknown period before the September 29 inspection, dishes and utensils served to residents may not have been properly sanitized. The dishwasher's admission that he never documented readings because the numbers didn't make sense suggests the problem existed for days, possibly longer.
The facility policy requires that tableware and utensils be "cleaned and sanitized in either a high-temperature dishwashing machine that uses hot water, or a chemical sanitizing machine that uses a chemical sanitizing solution."
Without functioning sanitizer, the 74 residents at Metropolis Rehab & HCC were potentially exposed to contaminated dishes and eating utensils at every meal. The dishwasher who couldn't locate test strips or understand documentation requirements was responsible for ensuring the safety of items that go directly into residents' mouths.
State inspectors found the violation affected "many" residents with "minimal harm or potential for actual harm." But the failure to maintain basic sanitation equipment represents a fundamental breakdown in food safety protocols at the facility.
The identical 200 ppm readings logged for 23 consecutive days suggest staff may have been fabricating documentation rather than actually testing the system. When the administrator reviewed these suspiciously consistent numbers with inspectors, she acknowledged uncertainty about proper sanitizer levels and couldn't explain the documentation gaps.
The newly hired dishwasher's confusion about his basic responsibilities highlighted broader supervisory failures. He had worked at the facility years earlier but received no apparent training on current procedures or documentation requirements when he returned.
Full Inspection Report
The details above represent a summary of key findings. View the complete inspection report for Metropolis Rehab & Hcc from 2025-11-17 including all violations, facility responses, and corrective action plans.