Delta Healthcare: Medical Records Withheld from Family - CA
That is what federal inspectors documented at Delta Healthcare & Wellness Center, LP, on North Bridge Street, following a complaint inspection completed August 14, 2025.
The resident at the center of the complaint had signed a Durable Power of Attorney back in August 2012, naming a family member as their legal agent. That document explicitly granted the agent the power to access healthcare records, billing statements, insurance documents, and payment information. It had been in place for more than a decade.
On April 13, 2025, the family member submitted a formal written request to the facility for a copy of the resident's protected health information. The request was signed. It specified exactly where the records should be sent. It followed the facility's own process for making such a request.
Nothing happened.
The Medical Records Supervisor, interviewed by inspectors on July 28, 2025, explained how the process worked at Delta Healthcare. When a records request came in, she said, she forwarded it to the corporate office, and corporate decided whether the records could be released. She confirmed the family member's request had come in April 13. She confirmed it had been denied.
The reason given: the facility said it didn't have the power of attorney on file.
The family member then provided the power of attorney to the facility.
The records still were not released.
The Medical Records Supervisor confirmed both facts to inspectors without apparent hesitation. The request came in. The DPA was missing. The DPA was provided. The records were still not sent.
The facility's own written policy, dated November 2015, set a clear timeline. A resident or their legal representative requesting access to inspect records was to be given that access within 24 hours of a written request, excluding weekends and holidays. A request for copies was to be fulfilled within two working days.
By the time inspectors conducted their review, more than three months had passed since the April 13 request. The two-working-day window the facility's own policy described had expired roughly 65 times over.
Inspectors rated the violation as causing minimal harm or potential for actual harm, and found it affected one of 18 sampled residents. The finding was tied to a complaint, meaning someone had contacted regulators directly before inspectors arrived.
What the inspection report does not explain is why corporate denied the initial request on the stated grounds that no power of attorney was on file, when the family member was ultimately able to produce one. It does not say whether anyone at the facility attempted to ask the family member for the document before issuing a denial, or whether the family member had to learn of the denial and then independently locate and submit the paperwork. It does not say how many times the family member followed up, or what they were told during the months between April and late July when inspectors finally came.
The Medical Records Supervisor's account of the process, as inspectors recorded it, describes a system in which a front-line employee receives a request, passes it to a corporate entity, and then waits. Whether she had any authority to escalate, to follow up with corporate on the family member's behalf, or to flag that a power of attorney had since been provided and the denial basis had been removed, the inspection report does not say.
What it does say is that a family member with a decade-old legal document granting them explicit access to a relative's health information asked for that information in writing, followed up with documentation, and was still waiting when federal inspectors showed up.
Full Inspection Report
The details above represent a summary of key findings. View the complete inspection report for Delta Healthcare & Wellness Center, Lp from 2025-08-14 including all violations, facility responses, and corrective action plans.
Download the official CMS inspection PDF from Medicare.gov
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: September 22, 2026 · Our methodology
DELTA HEALTHCARE & WELLNESS CENTER, LP in VISALIA, CA was cited for violations during a health inspection on August 14, 2025.
The resident at the center of the complaint had signed a Durable Power of Attorney back in August 2012, naming a family member as their legal agent.
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.