Tuesday, 02 March 2010 15:29

A. As a facility, I believe we take reasonable steps to provide opportunities to protect the safety &security of both residents and valuables. If you have a valuable item, we can store in it in a locked safe or other locked storage. The resident/responsible party needs to request this placement, either verbally and/or in writing. If an item under our direct care comes up missing or is damaged, we will reimburse or make financial compensation for it. Generally, we advise residents that if they have something of extreme value, either have their own locked safe/storage device kept in their room to securely store the valuable item or have family remove it from the facility to provide safekeeping. Theft can occur in nursing facilities (both by facility staff and/or family/friends). Fortunately, we’ve only encountered this infrequently here at Cedar Health. It is part of our admission agreement that if a resident chooses to keep any items they deem valuable in their room, they are assuming responsibility for it’s security. If it comes up missing or damaged, this facility assumes no liability for replacing it (unless it is clearly shown that facility staff acted reckless, careless, and /or negligent which caused said damage or allowed circumstances to occur which contributed to the item disappearing).