390 New Electrical Citations, a 100-Resident Power Evacuation, and CMS’s New Risk-Based Survey

Issue 2 · November 2026

Welcome to the PCREE Compliance Brief. Each month we read CMS’s newest Life Safety Code data and the month’s incidents so you don’t have to, and finish with one thing worth fixing before your next survey.

The month in numbers

CMS's latest release added 390 electrical Life Safety Code citations at 309 nursing homes in 41 states. By tag: K920 189, K914 56, K921 49, K911 43, K919 35, K912 18. 49 buildings were cited under K921 (PCREE testing). 62% of the cited buildings belong to multi-facility organizations.

Check any building in the survey-risk lookup, or every building in an organization in the multi-facility report. Source: CMS Provider Data Catalog, Fire Safety Deficiencies (release processed October 1, 2026).

Incident file

More than 100 residents evacuated after a power failure at a Lexington, Mass. nursing home

On the night of Saturday, October 24, fire crews responded to what Lexington’s fire chief called a “major power failure” at CareOne at Lexington. The building had been losing power on and off for several days. Because the electrical system also ran the building’s sewage system, officials had it de-energized and moved more than 100 residents to other facilities with help from the state’s long-term care mutual aid plan. A maintenance worker was hurt during the evacuation. The cause had not been determined when it was reported.

What to check in your building: Know which residents depend on powered equipment (oxygen concentrators, powered air mattresses, feeding pumps) and how each one runs during an outage. Confirm your emergency power testing records are current: generator and transfer requirements (K918) were cited at 41.4% of nursing homes in the last three years. And when power returns after outages or surges, inspect devices before they go back into service, and document testing on anything that was repaired.

Sources: Boston 25 News, Oct. 25, 2026 · WHDH 7News

Regulatory watch

CMS’s risk-based survey is now live nationally (QSO-26-14-NH)

CMS began rolling out a streamlined “risk-based survey” for high-performing nursing homes starting September 8, 2026, and revised the memo on September 29. It uses fewer surveyors, a smaller resident sample and roughly half the time of a standard survey. CMS estimates about 12% of nursing homes will qualify. A facility is disqualified by, among other things, an overall rating below 5 stars, a staffing rating below 3 stars, harm or immediate-jeopardy citations, a change of ownership since its last standard survey, or going more than 18 months without one.

What to check in your building: Most buildings will see no change. The memo keeps the requirement that standard surveys happen at least every 15 months, and it doesn’t address Life Safety Code (fire safety) surveys, so keep planning your electrical survey prep on the usual timeline. You can estimate your window in our survey-risk lookup.

Sources: CMS QSO-26-14-NH (revised Sept. 29, 2026) · CMS memo page

Practice of the month: Check your equipment against FDA recalls every month

Recalls of equipment nursing homes rely on are more common than most teams realize, and some are serious. For example, the FDA classified the recall of a home oxygen concentrator model as Class I, its most serious category, after units caught fire and melted during use. Our suggested routine:

1. Keep make, model and serial number for every device in your PCREE inventory (our free inventory template has the columns).
2. Once a month, search the FDA’s Medical Device Recalls list for each model you own, especially beds, lifts, oxygen concentrators and pumps.
3. Tag out affected units, follow the manufacturer’s instructions, and record what you did. Resident-owned and rental equipment counts too.

Sources: FDA: oxygen concentrator recall (Jiangsu Jumao / TruAire-5)

Tool of the month: Multi-Facility Electrical Citation Report

Responsible for more than one building? Search your organization to see every building CMS links to it, which were cited for electrical safety in the last three years, and which have a survey window open now, ranked by risk.

Look up your organization →

Survey calendar

• November–December: Holiday decorations, space heaters and extra power strips show up in resident rooms. That’s K920 and K919 territory, so walk your units after decorating.
• Early December: CMS’s next Provider Data Catalog update. We’ll cover it in the December issue.
• January–April: Standard surveys tend to peak in March and April. If your window opens in Q1, book PCREE testing now. State survey prep kits are free.

The PCREE Compliance Brief is a free monthly email from PCREETest.com. Statistics come from public CMS data; incidents and recalls link to their original sources. Not legal or regulatory advice. PCREE Test is not affiliated with CMS or FDA.