Inspectors from the state Department of Public Health found the problems between May and September 2015 at the Waterbury Dialysis Center on Highland Avenue in Waterbury. In a consent order signed March 9 with DPH, the center, part of the DaVita Dialysis chain based in Denver, agreed to hire an environmental consulting firm to keep the state advised that the violations are being corrected.
It also agreed to have a corporate regional nurse from DVA Healthcare Renal Care of Denver make weekly visits to verify and report to the state that staffing was adequate and that infection control principles were being followed.
Inspectors found some lapses in patient care. One patient’s blood pressure was not taken on 11 occasions. The center failed to document that doctors had completely assessed some patients, records show. The center also failed to ensure that contaminated surfaces, medical devices and equipment were disinfected between patients, records show.
Inspectors also questioned the staffing levels at the center, saying the facility failed to ensure that a registered nurse was present on the treatment floor at all times.
On May 19, inspectors wrote that a treatment room was 60 degrees when it should have been at least 72 degrees.
Inspectors said the center also failed to maintain a safe environment, noting the soiled dialysis machine, rusty chairs, 16 cans of expired food supplements and a sink that was pulling away from the wall.
The center could provide no documentation that it had recently inspected its fire alarm batteries, conducted fire drills or test-run an emergency generator, records show.
Inspectors found that many problems, including the damaged roof, clogged gutters, damaged ceilings and plastic sheeting that covered a sprinkler head, stemmed from roof damage from snow and ice dams in February 2015, records show.
Though the roof had leaked into a lab area, officials at the center could not provide documentation in May that the damaged roof or gutters had yet been evaluated for repair, the inspection reports said.
Kevin Downey, a DaVita spokesman in Denver, released a statement Friday: “We appreciate the collaborative environment in which we reached agreement with the state that addresses their concerns with this clinic. As we move forward, our extensive clinical policies ensure our patients are cared for safely and effectively and that our teammate performance is consistent with our standards and expectations.”
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I would like to know why the patients of Davita were not notified of these problems, especially when it related directly to their care.