Eleven long-term care facilities in New Mexico obtained a perfect score and 23 more missed a perfect score by one mark during surprise state inspections that took place over a weekend in May.
In all, 66 of the 91 facilities scored 90% or better, officials said. Another 11 registered 80% or higher.
Nonetheless, results announced by Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham (D) on Wednesday highlighted that 88% of the facilities visited had at least one violation in the 36-question inspection and four had failed.
“These findings are unacceptable,” Grisham said in a statement.
“We take the findings of this report very seriously,” added Patrick Allen, Secretary for the New Mexico Department of Health. “The quality of long-term care in New Mexico falls short of what our seniors deserve. This must change, and we are committed to making it happen.”
The head of the New Mexico Health Care Association said the inspections and splashy results release, which received wide media attention, felt like a “gotcha” moment.
A 31-page summary report on the unannounced visits generally described positive encounters between caregivers and the ombudsman volunteers who conducted the inspections. Some 95% of staff were found to be “respectful and pleasant” when dealing with residents.
“At no point has the association or our members or facilities been engaged in this process in a way that helps improve resident care,” association President Vicente Vargas told McKnight’s Long-Term Care News on Thursday. “Is there room for improvement? Absolutely. But all we’ve seen is this report has been used to paint a picture of facilities that is not a complete picture.”
The summary report noted that the four facilities that failed the surprise inspections would be subjected to further reviews. Two were cited immediately to authorities, while one in Albuquerque was cited for an outbreak of COVID-19. Vargas said that the inspectors were met by staff at the entrance, informed that COVID was present, and were offered PPE but the inspectors declined to enter the building.
“We’ve more than put our best foot forward to engage the state in a collaborative way,” Vargas said. “But this feels like a ‘gotcha.’ That starts to undo a lot of the good faith that’s been created between providers and the state.”
Forty-two volunteers from various state agencies underwent a one-day, remote training led by a top state health official in mid-May. That allowed 18 teams of two to three people each to visit skilled nursing facilities, nursing homes and assisted living facilities in 13 counties a few days later. The teams completed 172 evaluations.
The summary report noted that since just 34% of the state’s 268 long-term care facilities were involved in the sweep of unannounced visits, there would be plenty of others to explore in a subsequent round of visits.
