POST FALLS - A Post Falls nursing home has rectified an "immediate jeopardy" concern surveyors found during an October compliance survey, state officials said.

The citation, the most serious that a skilled nursing facility can draw, pertained to the nursing home portion of Life Care Center of Post Falls, not the other levels of care of the campus.

"It came down to poor nursing management of diabetic residents," said Tom Shanahan, Idaho Department of Health and Welfare spokesman, referring to what drew the red flag. "It obviously was serious, but the facility responded very quickly and developed a formal plan to ensure all residents with diabetes are appropriately managed."

In a written statement, Robin Leary, Life Care Center of Post Falls executive director, wrote that the facility's day-to-day operations are centered on resident care, safety and well being.

"We responded to the notification quickly, hosting associate training related to the citation and submitting a formal plan of corrective action to the state," Leary wrote.

"The state has completed one follow-up visit since that time and noted that our corrective measures were already in place. We continue to work with the state to ensure our associates and protocols are compliant with state standards in all areas."

Shanahan confirmed that the issue was rectified on the follow-up visit.

"We will do one more unannounced follow-up visit in the near future to verify," he said.

The federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) fined the facility $5,000 as a result of the concern.

Life Care's immediate jeopardy citation was the third issued statewide during the past year. There are 78 skilled nursing facilities in Idaho.

Immediate jeopardy is a situation in which immediate corrective action is necessary because the facility's noncompliance has caused injury, harm or impairment to a resident.

According to the state's report on Life Care, the facility failed to provide care according to professional standards for one of four residents sampled for diabetic management during the survey.

The facility failed to measure blood glucose as ordered by the physician, failed to provide prompt interventions for critically low blood glucose levels and failed to provide care according to policy regarding monitoring food intake and reporting abnormal blood glucose measurements, the report states.

"(The resident) required hospitalization in response to an hypoglycemia and urinary tract infection," the report states.

Leary wrote that the residents are the facility's top priority.

"We are committed to providing them with excellent and compassionate health care services that meet their needs and exceed their expectations," she wrote.