The Bluefields

Overview of The Bluefields

The Bluefields is a 78-bed memory care and assisted living community at 1935 Lincoln Road, Leland, Brunswick County, North Carolina,, rated 3 out of 5 overall by the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services, Division of Health Service Regulation, and ranked 40th (tied) among 138 homes statewide. A secured Special Care Unit serves residents with Alzheimer’s and dementia; 24-hour staffing and secured living are confirmed. Medicaid is accepted; Medicare is not. Occupancy stood at 50 of 78 beds (64 percent) as of October 2020, below the North Carolina average of 76.4 percent, with census having declined from 74 residents at the August 2019 inspection.

Amenities include restaurant-style dining, housekeeping, transportation, maintenance, a library, an entertainment room, and an outdoor common area.

The regulatory record here requires serious attention before any placement decision. Thirteen inspections from August 2015 through August 2021 average 7.7 deficiencies per year, 48 percent above the North Carolina benchmark of 5.2.

The most consequential finding is a substantiated April 2016 complaint investigation in which inadequate supervision during the assisted living dining room supper meal resulted in the injury and death of Resident 2. That same investigation found failure to notify Resident 2’s physician of health care needs and psychotherapist recommendations, and a staff member refusing to change a resident’s soiled bed linen while speaking to her disrespectfully.

The October 2020 complaint and COVID-19 infection control survey produced 11 deficiencies, including Memory Care Unit staffing shortages across multiple shifts, a vacant Memory Care Manager position that had gone unfilled for months, failure to call EMS or perform CPR on an unresponsive resident without a DNR, delayed health care referral leading to a second resident’s hospitalization and death, personal care failures, COVID-19 isolation and screening failures, and meal service dignity violations. The August 2019 annual inspection added 10 deficiencies: a 35 percent medication error rate, absent third-shift CPR certification on 14 of 15 sampled shifts, supervisor absent for 19 of 24 sampled shifts, and missed or delayed medical appointments for 5 residents.

Subsequent 2019 and 2020 follow-up surveys documented a 12 percent medication error rate and a 25-day delay in urological care for a resident passing blood in her urine. The August 2021 annual inspection found 5 deficiencies, including a staff member hired without required North Carolina Health Care Personnel Registry verification and a total-care resident transferred without the required two-person assist. Earlier substantiated complaints cover bed bug infestations in approximately 20 rooms in 2015, mold growth in 8 rooms from roof leaks and faulty HVAC equipment in 2017, and recurring physical plant failures.

No fines or license suspensions appear in the available record.

Leland sits roughly 10 miles west of Wilmington in Brunswick County; Novant Health Brunswick Medical Center is the primary nearby acute-care resource.

Families should ask administrators directly about corrective actions following the 2016 dining supervision death, current Memory Care Unit staffing levels, and medication administration audit protocols.

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Facility Direct Line (910) 383-6235