New report on Petersburg assisted living facility reveals more failures, neglect

PETERSBURG, Va. — A new inspection report on the Department of Social Services’ website reveals a slew of continued failures by staff at Fillmore Place.

The beleaguered Petersburg assisted living facility has been under the microscope since December of 2021, when the state determined it failed its licensing renewal inspection and granted the facility a provisional license only.

However, our previous 8News Taking Action investigation revealed claims by former employees that a few months later, residents were still living in filthy conditions, with staff no closer to cleaning things up.

Inspection reports from April backed up those claims, with new evidence from the state. One report noted a lack of documented training for staff, shoddy record-keeping, disrepair and rodent droppings.

Another documented revelation from interviews with staff was that no direct-care staff members were awake and on duty at night at all times.

And now, a month later — just three weeks before Fillmore’s license was set to expire — another inspection, perhaps Fillmore’s final, was still rife with violations. It appeared to be the longest list of violations yet.

Inspection notes mentioned continued sloppy record-keeping and documentation for both staff and residents. At times, whole records could not be located by staff or the administrator.

The violations for at least two state standards were so egregious and numerous, that “due to the limited space allowed by the DSS computer licensing system, the remainder of the violation is on a separate document and available upon request.”

And despite the administrators’ multiple assurances in April to 8News that residents had access to bathrooms and toilet paper as needed, licensing staff found in at least three rooms that the bathrooms were inaccessible. In one room, a dresser was in front of the bathroom door. In two others, the door was nailed shut.

The bathrooms were in states of disrepair or plainly unusable in other circumstances. Broken and rusted toilets, missing doorknobs and more are detailed throughout the report.

In addition, residents’ records didn’t have physician or prescriber orders for the medications they’re taking. That violation lists 111 high-dose supplements and drugs, ranging from aspirin to anti-seizure, and anti-psychotic medications like clonazepam, lorazepam and clozapine. Records didn’t include a diagnosis, condition or any reason why seven residents would be taking some of their medications. Some medications were as benign as Vitamin C, but others were as strong as the anti-convulsants levetiracetam and trazadone, which is a sedative used to treat depression.

The administrator also told 8News in April that the bedbug infestation was being taken care of by crews that treated weekly. DSS licensing staff found “active bed bugs crawling on the wall in the first-floor seating area at the end of the hallway,” “bugs crawling on the floor and wall and insects flying in the administrator’s office.” Dead bugs were also found in a sink and insects were seen flying around one of the mattresses.

In several rooms, the mattresses — if they existed at all — were covered with sheets and comforters that, as our photos have previously shown, were soiled and torn. Inspectors found no pillows on the bed, nor any lamps. In some cases, when there was a lamp, there was no lightbulb. Bedside tables were missing as well.

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All this was discovered on May 23, with the administrator and Fillmore’s owner on deadline to clean up their act before their license expired on June 12.

State officials tell 8News that the results of the state’s investigation of Fillmore Place will be available this week. The investigation was completed two weeks ago, but Fillmore Place’s owner had the opportunity to appeal that decision before the state’s action could be made public.