Grievance Policy

Magnolia Healthcare Agency in its commitment to excellence and dedication to the client and community encourage the client/family to provide any concerns regarding the care, safety, quality of care, caregivers, discrimination or company compliance with the Agency Manager and/or Administrator. Our agency aims to handle complaints quickly, effectively and in a fair and honest way.

A grievance or complaint can be made in the following ways:

• In person: by the client or family;
• By phone / email;
• By letter;
• Via member of staff / employee;
• Via another advocate or representative

A client grievance is a written or verbal complaint by the client, or the client's representative, regarding the client's care, neglect, abuse, quality of care, caregiver or billing issues related to the Agency's compliance with Federal/State Law, Rules and Regulations.

Magnolia Healthcare will quickly send a representative to the client's location to resolve the client's complaint

Information obtained from the client satisfaction survey will be taken into consideration. If a client writes a complaint on the survey and requests a resolution the company will treat this as notification of a grievance. If the client writes a complaint to the survey but does not request a resolution, the agency must still treat this as a grievance.

The Complaints Process & Investigation

1. Magnolia Healthcare management will acknowledge the grievance within two business days. Magnolia Healthcare will investigate the circumstance of the complaint. Agency management will respond to the complaints within 10 business days. In some cases, this process may take longer but Magnolia Healthcare will keep client informed of the reason for the delay and agree to a deadline for conclusion.

2. If a client for some reason is unhappy with the response from Magnolia Healthcare, the client may contact the Agency Director who serve as a Complaints Manager, or the Quality Assurance Manager who will arrange for the complaint to be investigated further.

3. The Agency Director or Quality Assurance Manager will arrange a meeting with the party who filed the grievance to discuss the issue in detail. The investigation should be completed within twenty (20) business days of the new application. A letter will be sent out within five working days of the meeting to inform the client of the review and decision along with recommendations. This letter will be provided to all parties attending the meeting.

4. This decision will be final. However, if the client does not agree with the decision, he/she may provide a complaint to the regulatory body for an independent investigation of the matter.

All complaints will be treated in confidence. Only the manager or their delegate will be aware of the nature of the complaint and the investigation and response given. Anonymous complaints will be handled the same however, it is better to provide contact details so that the appropriate parties can be informed of the outcome.

Magnolia Healthcare will maintain a LOG of all complaints and incidents which will include documentation of the investigation, date of occurrence, persons involved, and resolution of the problems.
The Administrator will review the Log monthly and quarterly for the compliance.

The Right to Grievance and Voice Complaints

We encourage all clients and family members to express their complaints about the company and suggest remedies or improvements in its policies and services.

Magnolia Healthcare / Home Care team members are expected to listen courteously and respectfully to complaints. If team members are able to do so, they will attempt to explain the reason for the procedure or incident in question. If you are not satisfied, team members will explain the company steps for making complaints which are as follows:

1. Discuss the concern or complaint with the Company Administrator, Quality Assurance Manager or Company Director

2. You may contact the Local Long Term Care office at 303-480-6735

3. The last step in this process is to call Colorado Health Care Facilities Division
at 303-692-2800

4. Or contact Denver/Arapahoe Adult Protective Services for suspected negligence or abuse
at 303-795-4825

At no time will any team member of the Company take retaliation against a client or any person filling a complaint, whether or not the complaint is valid.

The Company will step’s up to and including termination of any employee found to be threatening, ignoring, humiliating, retaliating, or discriminating against clients who voice complaints.

When any team member observes what appears to be a violation of the client’s rights or a violation of any of the laws and regulations under which Magnolia Healthcare must operate, whether or not a client has actually voiced a complaint, the team member is immediately expected to correct the situation.

If the team member is unable to do so, he/she must bring the issue to the attention of the Company Director who will ensure corrective action and, when required, notify authorities.

CLIENT RIGHTS TO GRIEVANCE

POLICY: Magnolia Healthcare ensures that the client and responsible parties are
informed of the Client’s Rights and Responsibilities and Magnolia Healthcare Home
Care Grievance Procedure according to the State regulations.

PROCEDURES:

• The Administrator reviews the Client’s Rights and Responsibilities and the
Magnolia Healthcare Home Care Grievance procedure with new clients and the family/responsible party upon admission.
• Client/ Responsible party acknowledges that the Client’s Rights, Responsibilities
and Grievance Procedures have been reviewed with them.

o Acknowledgment of the Client Agreement is signed.

o Client/Responsible party has received a copy of the Client’s Rights and Responsibilities and Grievance Procedure.

2. The Administrator reviews the Client’s Rights and Responsibilities:

• Annually
• In the month of January
• At the Client Council Meeting