Avera Eureka Health Care Center
202 J Avenue, Eureka, SD 57437 · Mc Pherson County · 56 certified beds · avg 52 residents/day · certified since May 2, 1994
Part of chain: AVERA HEALTH (13 facilities, chain avg rating 3.7★)
What health inspectors found (on-site government inspections — the most independent evidence available)
Health inspection rating: ★★★★☆4/5 · CMS overall rating: 4/5
The health inspection star above is graded on a curve within each state — a set share of each state's facilities gets each star level — so a facility can have few citations and still rate 2–3 stars if others in its state did even better. The overall rating combines that inspection score with staffing and self-reported quality measures.
Most serious findings (actual harm or immediate jeopardy)
▲ Actual harm, one-off · Feb 13, 2025 · F-0692
The facility did not provide enough food and fluids to keep residents healthy, such as preventing unplanned weight loss or dehydration.
Why it matters: Malnutrition and dehydration can quickly weaken a resident and lead to serious complications.
Severity (G): One or a few residents were actually harmed — physically or emotionally — though not put in immediate danger of serious injury or death.
Corrected: Mar 14, 2025 (Deficient, Provider has date of correction)
All citations in the current public record (10)
CMS publishes roughly the last three inspection cycles plus recent complaint investigations. Older surveys drop out of the record as new ones are completed.
| Date | Severity | What the facility was cited for |
|---|---|---|
| Jun 11, 2026 | E · Potential for harm, repeated | The facility did not honor residents' rights to request, refuse, or stop treatment, to decline participation in medical research, or to make an advance directive — a written statement of their wishes for future medical care. |
| Jun 11, 2026 | E · Potential for harm, repeated | The facility used bed rails without first trying safer alternatives, or without assessing the resident's safety risk, discussing the risks and benefits with the resident or family, getting consent, and installing the rails correctly. |
| Jun 11, 2026 | D · Potential for harm, one-off | The facility did not get its food from approved, safe sources, or did not store, prepare, and serve food according to professional food safety standards. |
| Feb 13, 2025 | ▲ G · Actual harm, one-off | The facility did not provide enough food and fluids to keep residents healthy, such as preventing unplanned weight loss or dehydration. |
| Feb 13, 2025 | F · Potential for harm, facility-wide | The facility did not get its food from approved, safe sources, or did not store, prepare, and serve food according to professional food safety standards. |
| Feb 13, 2025 | F · Potential for harm, facility-wide | The facility did not have or follow an effective program to prevent and control infections — such as proper hand washing, cleaning, and isolation practices. This is the most commonly cited deficiency nationwide. |
| Feb 13, 2025 | E · Potential for harm, repeated | The facility did not keep the environment free of accident hazards, or did not provide enough supervision to prevent accidents like falls. |
| Feb 13, 2025 | E · Potential for harm, repeated | The facility did not label drugs according to professional standards or did not store them in locked compartments, with controlled drugs (medications with a high risk of misuse) kept under a separate lock. |
| Oct 19, 2023 | E · Potential for harm, repeated | The facility did not have or follow an effective program to prevent and control infections — such as proper hand washing, cleaning, and isolation practices. This is the most commonly cited deficiency nationwide. |
| Oct 19, 2023 | D · Potential for harm, one-off | The facility did not label drugs according to professional standards or did not store them in locked compartments, with controlled drugs (medications with a high risk of misuse) kept under a separate lock. |
Inspection trend by year
Citations from standard inspections decreased between the last two inspection cycles (5 → 3).
| Year | Citations | Serious (G–L) | Worst severity that year |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | 2 | 0 | E |
| 2025 | 5 | 1 | G ▲ |
| 2026 | 3 | 0 | E |
Counts reflect the current CMS public record (~3 inspection cycles plus complaint investigations); years with no surveys show no row. Inspection frequency varies, so compare severity as well as counts.
Fines and enforcement (last 3 years)
1 fine totaling $12,252.
| Date | Type | Amount / length |
|---|---|---|
| Feb 13, 2025 | Fine | $12,252 |
Nurse staffing (from payroll records, adjusted for how much care residents need)
| Measure | This facility | South Dakota avg | U.S. avg | Where it stands |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total nurse staffing (hours per resident per day) | 3.89 | 4.32 | 3.95 | bottom 44% in South Dakota; top 44% in the U.S. |
| Registered Nurse hours | 1.01 | 0.91 | 0.69 | top 32% in South Dakota; top 15% in the U.S. |
| Weekend total nurse staffing | 3.18 | 3.71 | 3.50 | bottom 37% in South Dakota; bottom 41% in the U.S. |
| Weekend RN hours (not acuity-adjusted) | 0.59 | 0.51 | 0.48 | top 30% in South Dakota; top 24% in the U.S. |
| Total nursing staff turnover (%) | 32.5 | 48.2 | 45.8 | top 12% in South Dakota; top 19% in the U.S. |
| RN turnover (%) | 11.1 | 34.7 | 42.9 | top 6% in South Dakota; top 4% in the U.S. |
Hours are per resident per day, case-mix adjusted by CMS so facilities caring for sicker residents can be compared fairly (same basis as the CMS staffing star). "Top X%" means better than most facilities: more staffing hours, or lower turnover. Raw (unadjusted) reported hours: total 3.10, RN 0.80, weekend 2.53. Staffing rating: 4/5.
Self-reported quality measures
Note: these ratings are based on data the facility reports about itself to CMS. They are not independently verified by inspectors, and can look better than inspection findings. Give more weight to the inspection results above.
Quality measures rating: 4/5 · long-stay residents: 4/5 · short-stay residents: —/5
Who owns this facility
Non profit - Corporation
| Owner / manager | Type | Role | Stake | Since |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Avera Health | Organization | 5% or Greater Direct Ownership Interest | 100% | 01/01/2008 |
| Avera Health | Organization | Operational/Managerial Control | NOT APPLICABLE | 01/01/2000 |
| Bierne, Kathleen | Individual | Managing Control - Governing Body | NOT APPLICABLE | 07/01/2018 |
| Bjerknes, Daniel | Individual | Corporate Officer | NOT APPLICABLE | 08/15/2022 |
| Bjerknes, Daniel | Individual | Operational/Managerial Control | NOT APPLICABLE | 08/15/2022 |
| Dover, James | Individual | Operational/Managerial Control | NOT APPLICABLE | 10/23/2023 |
| Dover, James | Individual | Individual Is an Owner, Partner or Trustee of Any ADP of the SNF | NOT APPLICABLE | 03/17/2026 |
| Fauth, Kristen | Individual | Managing Control - Governing Body | NOT APPLICABLE | 07/01/2021 |
| Fouberg, Erin | Individual | Managing Control - Governing Body | NOT APPLICABLE | 07/01/2025 |
| Franks, Shane | Individual | Managing Control - Governing Body | NOT APPLICABLE | 07/01/2023 |
| Golz, Heidi | Individual | Managing Control - Governing Body | NOT APPLICABLE | 07/01/2018 |
| Heinz, Blake | Individual | Managing Control - Governing Body | NOT APPLICABLE | 07/01/2024 |
| Herman, Michael | Individual | Managing Control - Governing Body | NOT APPLICABLE | 07/01/2021 |
| Jensen, Paula | Individual | Managing Control - Governing Body | NOT APPLICABLE | 07/01/2023 |
| Kerkvliet, Marietta | Individual | Managing Control - Governing Body | NOT APPLICABLE | 07/01/2018 |
| Lautt, Julie | Individual | Corporate Officer | NOT APPLICABLE | 03/01/2020 |
| McNeil, David | Individual | Managing Control - Governing Body | NOT APPLICABLE | 07/01/2025 |
| Ostrowski, Susan | Individual | Corporate Officer | NOT APPLICABLE | 05/01/2002 |
| Ostrowski, Susan | Individual | Operational/Managerial Control | NOT APPLICABLE | 05/01/2002 |
| Ostrowski, Susan | Individual | ADP of the SNF | NOT APPLICABLE | 02/12/2026 |
Questions to ask on your visit
Generated from this facility's actual citation record — bring them to a tour and ask the administrator directly.
- "How do you monitor residents' weight and eating, and what happens when someone starts losing weight?"
- "How do you record and honor each resident's treatment wishes and advance directives, and how do staff know about them?"
- "What alternatives do you try before using bed rails, and how do you involve families in that decision?"
- "What did your most recent kitchen inspection find, and can I see how food is stored and prepared?"
- "Who leads your infection prevention program, and how do you make sure staff follow practices like hand hygiene every day?"
- "What is your falls rate, and what specific steps do you take to prevent falls and supervise residents at risk?"
- "Can you show me how medications are stored and secured on the units, including controlled drugs?"
- "What is your current ratio of nursing staff to residents on day, evening, and weekend shifts?"
- "Can I see the results and plan of correction from your most recent state inspection?"
Nearby facilities (within 20 miles)
| Facility | Distance | City | Overall | Inspection | Flags |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ashley Medical Center Nursing Home | 22.1 mi | Ashley, ND | ★★★★★ | 4/5 | |
| Bowdle Nursing Home | 22.1 mi | Bowdle, SD | ★★★★☆ | 4/5 | |
| Walworth County Care Center, INC | 27.0 mi | Selby, SD | ★★★★★ | 5/5 | |
| Wishek Living Center | 33.8 mi | Wishek, ND | ★★★★★ | 4/5 | |
| Strasburg Nursing Home | 36.6 mi | Strasburg, ND | ★★★★★ | 4/5 |
Compare this facility with the 3 closest →
Facility data as of CMS processing date 2026-08-01. CCN 435078.