When the State Health Department on Tuesday opened an investigation into a possible missing person at the Brompton Heights assisted living facility in Amherst, it was not the first time the facility had issues with the state.
There are 47 assisted living facilities in Western New York and state investigators inspect the homes homes every 12 to 18 months or whenever a complaint is filed -- which happened three times at Brompton Heights this summer.
In July, Brompton was cited for violations relating to "personnel" and "resident services".
It was given a clean bill of health on Aug. 28 but just three days later, inspectors were back there again looking into another complaint.
That complaint found violations of:
- "Admission and retention standards"
- "Resident services"
- and "Records and reports"
Managers at all assisted living facilities are required to fill out a standard state incident report when something goes wrong -- but they are not required to notify the state unless a resident is missing for more than 24 hours or needs medical attention, such as treatment for frostbite.
State officials earlier this year warned all assisted living managers in the state to take precautions in cold weather, stating "The whereabouts of all residents must be accounted for as required by each program's regulations."
Brompton’s prior violations are not made immediately available through the Department of Health, but a department spokesman said the agency cites assisted living facilities in accordance with state regulations that establish standards used to determine if a facility is incompliance.
Unlike the state does for nursing homes, it does not post its actual inspection reports for assisted living facilities online for the public to see.
The state does publish a list of violations for each assisted living facility, which you can access by clicking here.
