Hazlet nursing home hit with $22K fine over COVID-19 violations

HAZLET - A township nursing home was slapped with a more than $22,000 fine following a federal COVID-19 inspection that cited violations on masking rules and reporting employee deaths.

Arnold Walter Nursing and Rehabilitation Center on South Laurel Avenue was sanctioned following a surprise inspection on Nov. 16 by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, the federal agency responsible for enforcing workplace safety, according to a statement from the agency issued Friday.

OSHA cited five separate violations, three of which resulted in fines against the facility. Here are the regulations the nursing home was accused of violating:

Employers who require their employees to wear respirators or safety masks must develop workplace-specific policies for selecting the type of masks that will be worn, training for employees about their proper usage and procedures for cleaning, storing and maintaining the masks. The facility was fined $12,145 for this violation. Medical evaluations are required for employees who wear respirators to determine their ability to safely use them on the job. Employers must conduct fit tests for employees who wear tight-fitting facemasks. All work-related employee deaths must be reported to OSHA within eight hours. Arnold Walter nursing home was fined $8,675 for this violation. Employers must keep records of workplace-related fatalities, injuries or illnesses. The citation resulted in a $1,735 fine.

A representative from Arnold Walter Nursing and Rehabilitation Center could not be reached for comment on Friday.

An OSHA spokesperson did not return a request for more information on what prompted the fines.

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The agency's online records do not say what caused the employee's death.

The facility hadn't reported any recent COVID-19-related deaths among either residents or staff to the New Jersey Department of Health as of Wednesday. Three staff members at Arnold Walter nursing home have tested positive for COVID-19 in its current active outbreak, according to data collected by the state Department of Health.

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services reports that the facility has had 13 confirmed cases among residents and eight resident deaths from COVID-19 since March.

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Masks have been required for staff in New Jersey long-term care facilities since early on in the coronavirus pandemic to prevent COVID-infected employees who don't show symptoms from spreading the virus within those facilities.

A COVID-19 notice on the Arnold Walter nursing home's website says the facility is "strictly adhering to guidance from local, state and federal agencies" and providing ongoing training to all employees on infectious disease control measures, maintaining a sufficient supply of personal protective equipment, and conducting temperature screenings of everyone entering and exiting the facility.

Arnold Walter, a 202-bed nursing home, was given a five-star rating, the highest available, from the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services in its most recent ranking.

The facility was one of a dozen nationwide fined between Nov. 13 and Nov. 19 for coronavirus-related violations. OSHA collectively issued more than $150,000 in fines to the 12 companies, according to a news release from the agency.

Since the start of the pandemic, 244 OSHA inspections have led to COVID-related fines, totaling more than $3.3 million in proposed penalties.

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A total of 98 facilities in New Jersey have been fined for COVID violations, including six others in Monmouth and Ocean counties.

New Jersey's long-term care facilities have been ravaged by the pandemic. Nearly half of the 15,113 lab-confirmed COVID-19 deaths in New Jersey have been staff or residents at long-term care facilities.

Among the roughly 850 long-term care facilities in the state, 319 are currently recording active coronavirus cases, according to the state Department of Health.

Andrew Goudsward: agoudsward@gannett.com; @agoudsward on Twitter.

This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: Hazlet nursing home hit with $22K fine over COVID-19 violations

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