There have been two patient deaths at Idaho assisted living facilities in the past year for which the state has received complaints; at one, in Idaho Falls, where an elderly woman with dementia wandered away from the facility and died, the facility received a serious citation for insufficient supervision. The second case, from the Treasure Valley, still is being investigated.

Tamara Prisock, administrator of the state Division of Licensing and Certification, said the division’s workload for inspecting and certifying health facilities is prioritized based on patient safety; there’s a big backlog. Some complaints involve life-threatening conditions; in those cases, they’re addressed, and regular licensing surveys are delayed. “Some of the complaints that come in are serious enough that we feel we have to drop everything and get out there,” she said. You can read my full story here at spokesman.com.