One year of inspections at Lower Bucks Hospital: December 2024 — November 2025
Lower Bucks Hospital was cited for failing to properly record and treat a pressure ulcer last year.
Lower Bucks Hospital was cited by the Pennsylvania Department of Health for failing to properly record a patient’s weight and improperly treating another patient’s pressure ulcer last year.
The issues were among the instances health inspectors visited the Bristol hospital, owned by Prime Healthcare Services, between December 2024 and November 2025.
Here’s a look at the publicly available details:
Dec. 4, 2024: The Joint Commission, a nonprofit hospital accreditation agency, renewed the hospital’s accreditation, effective September 2024, for 36 months.
Dec. 16: Inspectors came to investigate a complaint but found the hospital was in compliance. Complaint details are not made public when inspectors determine it was unfounded.
Jan. 29, 2025: Inspectors came to investigate a complaint but found the hospital was in compliance.
Feb. 27: Inspectors cited the hospital for failing to measure a patient’s weight and instead recording the weight told to staff by the patient’s family member. Staff were retrained that a patient’s weight must be recorded using a hospital scale within eight hours of admission.
March 4: Inspectors cited the hospital for failing to properly monitor and care for a patient’s hospital-acquired pressure ulcer. Inspectors found that the ulcer was not reported to a doctor or documented in the internal reporting system. Administrators said they were trying to hire a wound care nurse, and retrained staff on wound care policies.
April 1: Inspectors visited for a mental health monitoring survey and found the hospital was in compliance.
Aug. 27: Inspectors followed up on the March citation and found the hospital in compliance.
Sept. 5: Inspectors followed up on the February citation and found the hospital in compliance.
Sept. 9: Inspectors came to investigate a complaint but found the hospital was in compliance.
Pennsylvania Department of Health routinely inspects hospitals to ensure the facility is safe for patients and that staff are following all safety protocols. Inspectors may also visit when a hospital staff member or patient files a complaint.
Not all safety violations spark an on-site investigation from inspectors. Hospitals are required to self-report the most serious safety violations and often work directly with the state to address them. Complaint details are not made public when inspectors determine it was unfounded.
The Inquirer tracks publicly available hospital reports related to a complaint, special monitoring, and general safety inspections. The Inquirer does not track inspections for new equipment or occupancy surveys, unless problems are identified.
Inspection reports are publicly available online and are released 40 days after the report is completed.
The Inquirer is publishing roundups of state inspection reports for Pa. hospitals in our coverage area.
