In 2012, Maryland’s Office of Health Care Quality failed to inspect more that half of the state’s assisted living facilities and almost three-quarters of facilities for the developmentally disabled, according to an article on The Frederick News-Post.

Regulators inspected only 54 of 197 facilities for developmentally disabled people. For assisted living facilities, it was 757 of 1,364. 

Patrick Dooley, chief of staff and assistant secretary for regulatory affairs at the Maryland Department of Mental Hygiene, blames the situation on increasing workload and insufficient staff, the article said.

According to the article, the inspection process and schedules will be reviewed and inspectors will use targeted surveys to identify which institutions need to be most thoroughly inspected. A facility with a consistently good track record could be passed over in favor of one where the previous inspection turned up problems.

Read the article.