Maintenance of resident files necessary for safety.

Petitioner, a personal care home, was fined $601 by the Department of Community Health (DCH) for failing to keep resident files for two of its residents.  Petitioner mistakenly believed that residents need not have files if they have lived in the personal care home for fewer than thirty days.  There is no such limitation in the personal care home regulations.  This was a Category I violation, because failure to comply with the regulations placed the residents at risk of imminent harm, given that Petitioner lacked crucial information to ensure that residents’ needs could be met and that their presence would not endanger the health or safety of other residents.