Regalcare At Lowell
Inspection Findings
F-Tag F0607
F 0607
Develop and implement policies and procedures to prevent abuse, neglect, and theft.
Level of Harm - Minimal harm or potential for actual harm
Based on record review and interviews, for one of three sampled Personnel Files (Occupational Therapist #1), the Facility failed to ensure they implemented and followed their abuse prohibition procedures as defined in their policy when a Massachusetts Nurse Aide Registry background check was not conducted prior to hire.Findings include: Review of the Facility's Policy titled Abuse Screening, dated March 2022, indicated all potential employees will be screened to rule out a history of abuse, neglect or mistreating residents which includes attempting to obtain information by checking with appropriate licensing registries.
The Policy indicated the Nurse Aide Registry is checked prior to employment for all facility employees.
Review of Occupational Therapist (OT) #1's Personnel File indicated she was hired on 05/20/24. There was no documentation to support that the facility had conducted a Massachusetts Nurse Aide Registry background check on OT #1 before hire.During a telephone interview on 02/09/26 at 2:45 P.M., the Director of Nurses (DON) said OT #1 was a contracted employee. The DON said it was determined that a Massachusetts Nurse Aide Registry background check had not been conducted per the facility contract prior to hire, as agreed upon. The DON said per Facility Policy, all employees, irregardless of their position were to have a Massachusetts Nurse Aide Registry background check prior to hire.
Residents Affected - Few
Any deficiency statement ending with an asterisk (*) denotes a deficiency which the institution may be excused from correcting providing it is determined that other safeguards provide sufficient protection to the patients. (See instructions.) Except for nursing homes, the findings stated above are disclosable 90 days following the date of survey whether or not a plan of correction is provided. For nursing homes, the above findings and plans of correction are disclosable 14 days following the date
these documents are made available to the facility. If deficiencies are cited, an approved plan of correction is requisite to continued program participation.
LABORATORY DIRECTOR'S OR PROVIDER/SUPPLIER REPRESENTATIVE'S SIGNATURE
TITLE
(X6) DATE
FORM CMS-2567 (02/99) Previous Versions Obsolete
Facility ID:
If continuation sheet
Event ID:
REGALCARE AT LOWELL in LOWELL, MA inspection on recent inspection.
Found 0 violation(s). Severity: Standard violations. Status: 0 corrected, 0 pending.
Frequently Asked Questions
- What is an F-tag violation?
- F-tags are federal deficiency codes used by CMS to categorize nursing home violations. Each F-tag corresponds to a specific federal regulation (42 CFR Part 483). For example, F607 relates to abuse prevention policies, F880 relates to infection control.
- Were these violations corrected?
- Facilities must submit plans of correction and implement changes within required timeframes. CMS conducts follow-up inspections to verify corrections. Check the inspection report for specific correction dates and follow-up verification status.
- How often do nursing home inspections happen?
- CMS conducts unannounced inspections of all Medicare/Medicaid-certified nursing homes at least once per year. Additional inspections may occur based on complaints, facility-reported incidents, or follow-up to verify previous violations were corrected.
- What should families do about these violations?
- Families should: (1) Review the full inspection report for details, (2) Ask facility administration about specific corrective actions taken, (3) Check if this represents a pattern by reviewing prior inspections, (4) Compare with other facilities in LOWELL, MA, (5) Report new concerns to state authorities.
- Where can I see the full inspection report?
- Complete inspection reports are available on Medicare.gov's Care Compare website (www.medicare.gov/care-compare). You can also request copies directly from REGALCARE AT LOWELL or from the state Department of Health. Reports include deficiency codes, facility responses, and correction timelines.