Seven Hills Pediatric Center: Lift Strap Failure - MA
The child, identified in inspection records only as Resident #1, was left with a small area of swelling over the right eyebrow and blood on the lip.
Seven Hills Pediatric Center, a long-term care facility in Groton serving children with complex medical needs, was the subject of a complaint inspection on May 27, 2026. State surveyors documented the April incident and found the facility in past noncompliance with safe transfer requirements.
The nursing assistant, identified as CNA #1, told inspectors she believed she had fully secured all the loops of the mechanical lift sling before raising the resident. She had not. The upper right loop, the strap that would have held the right side of the child's body against the sling pad, was not attached to the overhead lift. When she raised the child and then moved the wheelchair clear, the right side of the child's body began pulling away from the pad. The child slipped out from the top right corner of the sling.
The Assistant Director of Nurses had CNA #1 reenact the transfer with the overhead lift after the incident. That demonstration confirmed what the straps showed: the upper right loop had never been connected. The Director of Nurses reached the same conclusion after completing her own investigation. Both described it as user error.
The nurse who responded to the room after CNA #1 called for help found the child lying on the floor with the sling pad underneath them. Swelling above the right eyebrow. A little blood on the lip. No other injuries documented. The child was evaluated and remained at the facility.
A mechanical lift is not complicated equipment, but it requires a specific sequence of steps. Each loop of the sling pad must be clipped to the lift frame before any weight is applied. The lift itself, and the sling, were both inspected by the Therapy Department after the incident and found to be in working order. The equipment had not failed. The check before the lift had.
Within a day, the Therapy Department had reeducated CNA #1 and completed a formal competency skills check with her. By the end of that week, all nursing staff had been educated on a revised mechanical lift policy. By May 1, the Therapy Department had completed competency checks with every staff member who uses a lift. The Director of Nurses also began observational audits of mechanical lift use, scheduled to run weekly, then every two weeks, then monthly until the facility reaches what surveyors call substantial compliance.
The facility presented its plan of correction to surveyors on April 27, with an effective date of May 7. The revised policy adds annual reeducation for all nursing staff to the requirements around mechanical lift use.
None of that undoes what happened on April 22. A child who cannot transfer independently was lifted into the air with one side of their body unsecured. When the support beneath them was moved away, they fell. The strap that should have held them in place had been there the whole time, clipped to nothing.
Full Inspection Report
The details above represent a summary of key findings. View the complete inspection report for Seven Hills Pediatric Center from 2026-05-27 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 12, 2026 · Our methodology
Seven Hills Pediatric Center in GROTON, MA was cited for violations during a health inspection on May 27, 2026.
The child, identified in inspection records only as Resident #1, was left with a small area of swelling over the right eyebrow and blood on the lip.
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.