Mescalero Care Center

In the surveyor’s words

From the most serious findings on record at Mescalero Care Center, in the surveyor’s own words.

• No harm, potential for more than minimal, widespreadF801May 19, 2025

  Based on an interviews the facility failed to employ a Certified Dietary Manager (CDM) that met the requirements as follows: (A) A certified dietary manager; or (B) A certified food service manager; or (C) Had similar national certification for food service management and safety from a national certifying body; or (D) Had an associate's or higher degree in food service management or in hospitality, if the course study includes food service or restaurant management, from an accredited institution of higher learning; or (E) Had two or more years of experience in the position of director of food and nutrition services in a nursing facility setting and has completed a course of study in food safety and management, by no later than October 1, 2023, that included topics integral to… […]

• No harm, potential for more than minimal, widespreadF812May 19, 2025

  Recite from [DATE] Based on observation and interview, the facility failed to store and serve food under sanitary conditions in accordance with professional standards of food service safety for all 29 residents in the facility (residents were identified by resident matrix provided by the Administrator on [DATE]) who eat food or drinks stored in the nutrition refrigerator or freezer when staff failed to: 1. Maintain refrigerator temperatures in the nutrition refrigerators (refrigerator near the nursing station that contains drinks and snacks for residents). 2. Food stored in the nutrition refrigerator was not expired. 3. Food stored in the nutrition refrigerator or freezer had an expiration date. 4. […]

• No harm, potential for more than minimal, widespreadF727May 22, 2024

  Based on record review and interview, the facility failed to provide services of a Registered Nurse (RN) for at least 8 consecutive hours a day, 7 days a week. This deficient practice could affect all 25 residents, as identified on the facility census list provided by the Director of Nursing on 05/19/24. This deficient practice could likely result in residents not receiving the services they need for optimal quality of care. The findings are: A. Record review of the staff timesheets from 04/22/24 through 05/21/24 revealed that the facility did not have an RN present for 8 consecutive hours on the following dates: 1. 04/26/24 RN hours worked were 5 hours and 45 minutes. 2. 05/04/24 RN did not work any hours. 3. 05/10/24 RN hours worked were 7 hours and 36 minutes. 4. […]

• No harm, potential for more than minimal, widespreadF812May 22, 2024

  Based on record review and interview, the facility failed to document the temperature of the walk-in refrigerator and walk-in freezer. This failure could potentially affect all 25 residents in the facility who eat food prepared in the kitchen (residents were identified by the Resident Matrix provided by the Administrator on 05/19/24). If the facility fails to adhere to safe food storage, residents could likely be exposed to foodborne illnesses (illness caused by food contaminated with bacteria, viruses, parasites, or toxins). The findings are: A. Record review of the walk-in refrigerator temperature log revealed temperatures were not documented at all for the following dates: 1. 05/11/24 2. 05/12/24. 3. 05/17/24 4. 05/18/24 5. 05/19/24 B. […]

• No harm, potential for more than minimal, widespreadF867May 22, 2024

  Based on record review and interview the facility's Quality Assurance Performance Improvement (QAPI) Committee failed to establish and implement policies and procedures for feedback, data collections system, monitoring, and adverse event monitoring. This deficient practice could likely result in the facility not having opportunities for improvement, obtaining feedback from staff, the residents and the resident's representative to identify problems or concerns. The findings are: A. Record review of the Quality Assurance Performance Improvement (QAPI) Committee binder revealed, the facility do not have any policies and procedures in place. B. On 05/22/24 at 2:43 PM during an interview the Administrator confirmed did not have policy and procedures for QAPI. […]