As the operator of a Residential Care Facility for the Elderly (RCFE), you want to do everything you can to help your facility thrive. You know that means taking care of your residents and your staff. But it also means taking care of your facility itself.
To help there, we’ve laid out four maintenance best practices you can employ.
Make Sure Your Grounds Get Checked Regularly
In the busyness of daily operations, things often get overlooked. From a cord that’s been moved and now poses a tripping hazard to a plant that’s overgrown a walkway, little issues can turn into big problems if they’re not addressed.
Make it a point to either walk your grounds yourself or designate a trusted member of your team to do so. The purpose of this walkthrough should be to give everything a thorough once-over.
To make the most of this best practice, have a piece of paper in hand or a note going in your phone or tablet. Fix anything that can be handled on the spot, but make a note of any larger-scale to-dos. That way, you can delegate them to the appropriate team members.
Make this a regular habit (e.g., monthly). When you do, you can not only look for new maintenance tasks but also make sure the ones you previously flagged were properly handled.
Additionally, please note that fire extinguishers should be serviced annually by a licensed fire protection contractor and date tagged accordingly. Keeping your extinguishers up to date is a mandatory requirement.
Do Digital Maintenance, Too
Maintaining your facility also means maintaining its digital presence. To reduce liability, change the passwords on all devices that have private information on a regular basis (e.g., quarterly). It can also help to go through and properly delete any old files you no longer need.
As you tackle digital maintenance, don’t forget to check your website for any outdated information, too.
Check In With Your Residents
While you can physically and digitally check up on a lot of your RCFE, there are areas where your team has less access. Take your residents’ rooms as an example. If an outlet is regularly shorting out, you wouldn’t know unless the resident tells you.
As a result, it makes sense to employ the best practice of periodically asking your residents if they need any maintenance for their living spaces. While you’re at it, you can ask them to point out anything they’ve noticed could use attention at the facility in general, too.
Talk With An Insurance Pro
Don’t forget to maintain your insurance coverage. RCFEs benefit from an annual meeting with their insurance professional to ensure their coverages are up to date and still sufficient for their current operations.
If, for example, you added more beds or a new activity for your residents, your facility’s liability exposure may have changed. Your insurance agent can help you adapt your policies for the broad coverage you need should anything happen.
Maintaining your insurance might sound daunting, but handling this to-do can actually be quick and easy. To sit down with one of our RCFE insurance experts and give your policies the attention they need, call our team at (805) 413-5668.