The Merriman: Catheter Care Failures Cited in Complaint - OH
That gap, from the day Resident 5 returned to March 6, 2025, is what federal inspectors documented when they visited the Merriman Road facility on November 26 following a complaint. The Director of Nursing confirmed it herself during an interview on November 10: no catheter care orders existed for ten days after the resident's return. She also confirmed the treatment administration record and the progress notes at that time.
The care plan had nothing in it either. No interventions. No instructions for how staff should handle the catheter, where to position the bag and tubing, what signs of infection to watch for, or when to call a doctor. The inspection report noted the care plan should have addressed all of those things. It addressed none of them.
Foley catheters carry real risks. When a bag is positioned incorrectly, above the level of the bladder, urine can flow back toward the body. Urinary tract infections in catheterized patients can become serious quickly, particularly in older adults, and the warning signs, changes in urine color or odor, fever, pain, confusion, require someone to be watching for them. Without orders, without a care plan, it's not clear who was watching or what they were supposed to do.
Resident 5 had their own account of what those days felt like. In an interview on November 12, the resident told inspectors that residents did not get the care they needed, and that incontinence care was not provided on time.
That phrase, "not provided timely," is understated in the way inspection reports tend to be. It describes something specific: a person with a catheter, dependent on staff for care they could not provide for themselves, waiting.
The Merriman is a nursing and rehabilitation facility at 209 Merriman Road in Akron. The inspection that captured this deficiency was a complaint investigation, complaint number 2615467, not a routine survey. Someone filed a complaint. Inspectors came. They found what they found.
The deficiency was cited at a level of minimal harm or potential for actual harm, the lower end of the federal harm scale. That designation reflects what inspectors could document, not necessarily what the resident experienced during those ten days without orders.
The Director of Nursing's confirmation during the interview was straightforward. She did not dispute the timeline. The orders weren't there. The care plan wasn't there. The record showed it.
What the record doesn't show is what happened during those ten days, whether anyone noticed the catheter needed attention, whether anyone checked the bag position, whether anyone looked for signs of infection and found none or didn't look at all. The inspection report captures the absence. It doesn't capture what that absence cost.
Resident 5 is still there.
Full Inspection Report
The details above represent a summary of key findings. View the complete inspection report for The Merriman from 2025-11-26 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: August 21, 2026 · Our methodology
THE MERRIMAN in AKRON, OH was cited for violations during a health inspection on November 26, 2025.
The Director of Nursing confirmed it herself during an interview on November 10: no catheter care orders existed for ten days after the resident's return.
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.