FORDYCE, AR - Federal health inspectors identified three deficiencies at St Johns Place of Arkansas, LLC during a standard health inspection completed on December 4, 2025, including a citation for failing to provide residents with required documentation related to their care needs, appeal rights, and bed-hold policies.
Documentation Failures Put Resident Rights at Risk
The inspection found that St Johns Place failed to meet federal requirements under regulatory tag F0628, which mandates that nursing facilities provide specific documentation and notifications to residents. These requirements exist to ensure residents and their families remain informed about care decisions, their rights to appeal those decisions, and policies that affect whether a bed will be held during a hospital transfer or other temporary absence.
Federal regulations require nursing homes to deliver clear, written communication to residents regarding several critical areas. These include notification when there are changes to the resident's care plan, written information about the right to appeal facility decisions, and documentation of bed-hold policies that protect a resident's place in the facility during temporary absences such as hospitalizations.
When a facility fails to provide this documentation, residents may be unaware of their legal protections. For example, a resident transferred to a hospital may not know whether their bed will be available upon return, or a resident whose care plan changes may not understand their right to contest that decision.
Scope of the Deficiency
Inspectors classified the violation at Scope/Severity Level B, indicating the issue was isolated in nature and resulted in no documented actual harm to residents. However, the classification noted there was potential for more than minimal harm, meaning the documentation gaps could have led to negative outcomes for residents if left unaddressed.
Level B citations, while not the most severe on the federal enforcement scale, signal a systemic compliance gap that facilities must correct. The fact that residents were not receiving required notifications means the facility's administrative processes for resident communication had broken down in at least one instance identified by inspectors.
Why Notification Requirements Exist
The documentation and notification requirements under F0628 are a cornerstone of federal nursing home regulations because they protect the fundamental autonomy of residents. Nursing home residents retain legal rights to participate in decisions about their care, to be informed about changes affecting them, and to challenge decisions they disagree with.
Bed-hold policies are particularly significant for residents and their families. When a resident requires temporary hospitalization, federal and state regulations establish specific timeframes during which a facility must hold that resident's bed. Without clear written notification of these policies, a resident could lose their placement in a facility during a medical emergency, potentially resulting in displacement to a different facility far from family and established care relationships.
Appeal rights notifications serve a similar protective function. When a facility proposes a discharge, transfer, or change in care level, residents have the legal right to contest these decisions through formal appeal processes. If they are never informed that these rights exist, they cannot exercise them.
Additional Deficiencies Noted
The F0628 citation was one of three deficiencies identified during the December 2025 inspection. The presence of multiple citations suggests areas where the facility's compliance practices require broader review beyond the single documentation issue.
Facility Response and Correction
St Johns Place of Arkansas reported that the identified deficiencies were corrected as of December 9, 2025, just five days after the inspection concluded. The facility's status was listed as "Deficient, Provider has date of correction," indicating that management acknowledged the issues and implemented changes.
A five-day correction timeline suggests the facility was able to address the documentation gap through administrative and procedural updates rather than requiring major infrastructure or staffing changes. This is consistent with the nature of documentation deficiencies, which can often be resolved by updating notification procedures, retraining administrative staff, and implementing tracking systems to ensure all required communications reach residents.
Looking Forward
Families with loved ones at St Johns Place of Arkansas should verify that they are receiving all required documentation regarding care plans, appeal rights, and bed-hold policies. Residents and their representatives have the right to request this information directly from the facility at any time.
The full inspection report, including details of all three deficiencies cited during the December 2025 survey, is available through the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services and provides a complete record of the findings.
Full Inspection Report
The details above represent a summary of key findings. View the complete inspection report for St Johns Place of Arkansas, LLC from 2025-12-04 including all violations, facility responses, and corrective action plans.
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