Olympia Transitional Care: Lab Service Delays - WA
The resident, identified in inspection records only as Resident 4, had been admitted to the facility with Parkinson's Disease and hyperparathyroidism, a condition in which overactive parathyroid glands drive calcium to abnormal levels in the blood. Elevated calcium, left unmonitored, can damage the kidneys, heart, and bones. The resident also had cognitive impairment and needed help with daily activities.
The trouble began in early November 2025. A lab result from November 7 showed the resident's calcium already elevated at 12.2, above the normal ceiling of 10.2. A physician responded a week later, on November 14, ordering a PTH level, a vitamin D level, and an ionized calcium — a one-time draw to get a clearer picture of what was driving the hypercalcemia.
The lab never got a specimen.
A provider note from November 22 recorded the problem plainly: the PTH and ionized calcium had not been performed. The physician reordered them. A new order went in November 28 for PTH and ionized calcium, again one-time only.
On November 29, the lab again documented that the tests were not performed. No specimen received.
Nobody caught it. The daily clinical meetings that the facility's own laboratory policy said should be used to follow up on pending or missing lab results apparently did not surface the problem. The shift-to-shift reporting that the same policy required for missing labs did not produce any corrective action. Two physicians had now ordered the same blood draw, and staff had not collected it either time.
On December 1, a physician ordered a routine complete blood count and comprehensive metabolic panel. The next evening, just after 11 p.m. on December 2, a nurse received a call from the lab: the resident had a critical calcium value. The resident was transferred to the hospital that night.
Hospital records showed calcium at 17. The resident was admitted for acute pulmonary embolism, a blood clot blocking an artery in the lungs, aspiration pneumonia, and hypercalcemia. Whether the weeks of unmonitored calcium elevation contributed to any of those conditions, the inspection record does not say. What it does say is that the specific tests ordered to track the hyperparathyroidism were never collected, and the facility did not catch the failure until a critical lab value forced the issue.
The administrator, identified in the report as Staff A, sat for an interview with inspectors on January 30, 2026. He confirmed the facility had received physician orders for PTH and ionized calcium on November 14 and again on November 28. He confirmed the lab had documented both times that no specimen was received. He confirmed the lab called with a critical calcium value on December 2 and that the resident was sent to the hospital. Then he said it plainly: collecting labs, sending them, and making sure results came back was a nursing responsibility.
The inspection, a complaint survey, cited the facility for failing to ensure laboratory tests were completed as ordered. Inspectors classified the harm level as minimal harm or potential for actual harm, a designation that reflects regulatory threshold rather than the resident's clinical outcome. The resident had, in fact, been hospitalized with a calcium level nearly 70 percent above the upper limit of normal.
The facility's own policy, though undated, required lab results and any missing or pending results to be part of every shift change report and to be addressed in daily clinical meetings. By the time anyone acted, the resident's physician had reordered the same tests twice across nearly three weeks, and the window for catching the deterioration before a crisis had closed.
The resident was in the hospital. The calcium was 17.
Full Inspection Report
The details above represent a summary of key findings. View the complete inspection report for Olympia Transitional Care and Rehabilitation from 2026-01-30 including all violations, facility responses, and corrective action plans.
Additional Resources
Data source: Official federal inspection data from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS).
Editorial process: AI-synthesized regulatory data, reviewed for accuracy by our editorial team.
Professional review: All content reviewed by Christopher F. Nesbitt, Sr., NH EMT & BU-trained Paralegal.
Last verified: August 5, 2026 · Our methodology
OLYMPIA TRANSITIONAL CARE AND REHABILITATION in OLYMPIA, WA was cited for violations during a health inspection on January 30, 2026.
Elevated calcium, left unmonitored, can damage the kidneys, heart, and bones.
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.