A Maryland provider may be forced to pay a $315,000 fine for Immediate Jeopardy violations after state health officials found that it did not properly isolate residents exposed to COVID-19. 

A report detailing the Sykesville, MD-based Brinton Woods Nursing and Rehabilitation Center’s missteps during an outbreak at the facility was issued by the Maryland Department of Health’s Office of Health Care Quality in late August, the Baltimore Sun reported. Brinton can appeal the decision within 60 days from when it received the report.

LifeBridge Health, which owns and operates Brinton Woods, stressed the care and safety of residents in a statement. 

“There are currently no COVID-positive residents at our facility, and there have been no positive cases since early August. While we look to appeal some of the findings, any concerns identified were immediately addressed and corrected,” spokeswoman Sharon Boston told the newspaper. 

“We are now further analyzing the state’s survey and putting together a comprehensive action plan, including implementing resources and coordination with leaders at LifeBridge Health long-term care facilities,” she added. 

Regulators found that in early June, the facility placed a resident who had been exposed to the disease in a shared room with a person who had tested negative instead of isolating them for 14 days as federal guidance dictates The exposed resident, who later died, and their roommate tested positive for the disease in late June. 

Surveyors also found that several newly admitted residents whose COVID-19 status was unknown weren’t isolated upon entry; the facility didn’t provide personal protective equipment near room entrances of positive residents; and there were no signage on rooms informing staff members if that resident had the disease, according to the report.

The facility had 11 residents die from COVID-19, while 38 others and 6 staff members tested positive for the disease during the outbreak, which lasted through mid-July. 

The $315,000 fine would come after the state fined another Maryland nursing home $70,000 in July for similar issues.