Russell Regional Hospital LTCU: Choking Incident Unreported - KS
The resident, identified in the report as R3, required supervision and cueing during meals. A licensed nurse identified as LN H was present during the choking episode alongside a nursing assistant identified as CNA N. Video footage later reviewed by administration showed that LN H did not assist CNA N in removing food from R3's mouth.
No lung assessment was completed afterward. A nurse checked R3's blood pressure and pulse and stopped there. Nothing about the incident was entered into the electronic medical record. No follow-up documentation was filed.
LN H never reported the incident to the facility's administrative nurse. By the time inspectors arrived, LN H no longer worked at the facility.
Administrative Nurse D told inspectors on the afternoon of September 16 that she had learned what happened only by watching the video herself. "Both LN H and CNA N were wrong in how the situation was handled," she said. She confirmed there were no lung assessments in the record, no incident report, and no follow-up notes of any kind.
The facility's own condition-change policy, in place since 2019, directs staff to observe, document, and report any change in a resident's condition to the attending physician, complete vital signs including temperature, file an incident report, notify the resident's responsible party, and monitor the resident at least every shift until stable. None of those steps were taken.
R3's family was not notified. Her physician was not contacted. Whether she suffered any harm to her lungs from the episode, no one documented, because no one checked.
Full Inspection Report
The details above represent a summary of key findings. View the complete inspection report for Russell Regional Hospital Ltcu from 2025-09-16 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
RUSSELL REGIONAL HOSPITAL LTCU in RUSSELL, KS was cited for violations during a health inspection on September 16, 2025.
The resident, identified in the report as R3, required supervision and cueing during meals.
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.