In 2024, several significant enforcement actions and regulatory penalties were imposed related to electrical safety in patient care settings. These cases underscore the financial and operational consequences of PCREE compliance failures.

1. Philips Respironics Recall and Settlement

In January 2024, Philips agreed to halt the sale of new sleep apnea devices in the United States as part of an agreement with the FDA. This decision followed a 2021 recall of ventilators, BiPAP, and CPAP machines due to potential health risks from degrading sound-dampening foam. The recall affected approximately 3 to 4 million devices, creating significant supply chain disruptions across healthcare settings.

In October 2022, multiple lawsuits were consolidated into a class-action lawsuit, which Philips settled in September 2023 for at least $479 million. The 2024 sales halt was part of ongoing corrective actions. For SNFs that had been using affected Philips devices, this event highlighted the importance of having documented processes for responding to manufacturer recalls — including removing affected devices from service and updating inventory records.

2. Long-Term Care Facility Fines in Illinois

In the last quarter of 2024, three long-term care facilities in Jacksonville, Illinois, were fined for various safety violations:

  • The Grove Health & Rehab Center was fined $52,200 for multiple violations, including failures that led to a resident fall with serious injuries and improper medication management
  • Jacksonville Skilled Nursing and Rehab was fined $4,400 for two violations, including failure to provide necessary oxygen to residents, resulting in one needing emergency care
  • Arcadia Care Jacksonville was fined $2,200 for inadequate response to call-light systems

While these particular fines were not exclusively tied to electrical equipment failures, they illustrate the financial exposure that comes from inadequate safety protocols in patient care environments — and how surveyors evaluate the full spectrum of resident safety practices.

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3. OSHA Electrical Safety Penalties

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration maintains penalty schedules for workplace safety violations, including those related to electrical hazards. As of 2025, the maximum penalties are:

  • Serious or Other-Than-Serious violations: Up to $16,550 per violation
  • Failure to Abate: $16,550 per day beyond the abatement date
  • Willful or Repeated violations: Up to $165,514 per violation

These penalties can compound quickly when multiple electrical safety deficiencies are identified in a single inspection. SNFs that have not performed PCREE testing within required intervals face potential exposure across multiple violation categories simultaneously.

Key Takeaways for SNF Administrators

The enforcement pattern in 2024 reinforces several consistent principles: document your testing program thoroughly, respond to manufacturer recalls promptly and with written records, ensure that all vendor contracts include the full scope of NFPA 99 testing requirements, and treat each survey as an opportunity to demonstrate — not just assert — compliance.

Facilities that invest in annual PCREE testing with complete documentation consistently face lower survey risk and lower enforcement exposure than those operating reactively.