Clark Fork Valley Nursing Home
10 Kruger Rd, Plains, MT 59859 · Sanders County · 28 certified beds · avg 27 residents/day · certified since Jan 1, 1985
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-0744
The facility did not provide the right treatment and services for residents with dementia or signs of dementia. Dementia care requires specific approaches, training, and patience.
Why it matters: Poor dementia care can lead to distress, unsafe wandering, or unnecessary sedating medication.
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 (19)
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Apr 9, 2026 | D · Potential for harm, one-off | The facility did not respond appropriately to alleged violations, such as reports of abuse, neglect, or mistreatment. Facilities must investigate every allegation and protect residents while they do. |
| Apr 9, 2026 | D · Potential for harm, one-off | The facility did not coordinate resident assessments with the state's pre-admission screening program for mental illness and intellectual disabilities, or failed to refer residents for the special services they need. |
| Feb 13, 2025 | ▲ G · Actual harm, one-off | The facility did not provide the right treatment and services for residents with dementia or signs of dementia. Dementia care requires specific approaches, training, and patience. |
| 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 protect residents from abuse or neglect. This covers physical, mental, and sexual abuse, physical punishment, and neglect, by anyone — staff, other residents, or visitors. |
| Feb 13, 2025 | E · Potential for harm, repeated | The facility did not report suspected abuse, neglect, or theft to the proper authorities quickly enough, or did not report the results of its investigation. |
| Feb 13, 2025 | E · Potential for harm, repeated | The facility did not respond appropriately to alleged violations, such as reports of abuse, neglect, or mistreatment. Facilities must investigate every allegation and protect residents while they do. |
| Feb 13, 2025 | E · Potential for harm, repeated | The facility did not accurately assess a resident's health and needs. Assessments are the foundation for all the care a resident receives. |
| 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. |
| Feb 13, 2025 | D · Potential for harm, one-off | The facility did not develop or follow a complete care plan for each resident — the written roadmap covering all of a resident's needs, with measurable goals and timelines. |
| Feb 13, 2025 | D · Potential for harm, one-off | The facility did not develop a resident's complete plan of care within 7 days of the full assessment, or the plan wasn't prepared, reviewed, and updated by a team of health professionals as required. |
| Feb 13, 2025 | D · Potential for harm, one-off | The facility did not provide appropriate care related to bladder and bowel needs — including care for residents who use catheters and steps to prevent urinary tract infections. |
| Feb 13, 2025 | D · Potential for 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 | D · Potential for harm, one-off | The facility did not provide care that took into account residents' past trauma or their cultural backgrounds. Care is supposed to be sensitive to what residents have lived through and where they come from. |
| Feb 13, 2025 | D · Potential for harm, one-off | The facility did not provide the social services residents need — such as counseling, help with adjustment, or connecting to outside resources — to achieve the best possible quality of life. |
| Feb 13, 2025 | D · Potential for harm, one-off | The facility did not try to gradually reduce doses of mood- and mind-altering medications or use non-drug approaches first, as required, or used 'as needed' psychiatric drugs without proper limits. |
| Feb 13, 2025 | C · Minimal risk, facility-wide | The facility did not give residents important notices in a format and language they can understand — for example, translated documents or accessible formats for those with vision or hearing loss. |
| Feb 13, 2025 | C · Minimal risk, facility-wide | The facility did not make its inspection results easy for residents to see, or made it hard for residents to contact advocacy agencies like the ombudsman. |
| Feb 29, 2024 | E · Potential for harm, repeated | The facility did not have a working program to monitor how antibiotics are used. Tracking antibiotic use helps make sure these drugs are given only when needed and remain effective. |
Inspection trend by year
Citations from standard inspections decreased between the last two inspection cycles (16 → 2).
| Year | Citations | Serious (G–L) | Worst severity that year |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | 1 | 0 | E |
| 2025 | 16 | 1 | G ▲ |
| 2026 | 2 | 0 | D |
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 $62,871.
| Date | Type | Amount / length |
|---|---|---|
| Feb 13, 2025 | Fine | $62,871 |
Nurse staffing (from payroll records, adjusted for how much care residents need)
| Measure | This facility | Montana avg | U.S. avg | Where it stands |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total nurse staffing (hours per resident per day) | 5.20 | 4.82 | 3.95 | top 33% in Montana; top 10% in the U.S. |
| Registered Nurse hours | 1.22 | 1.17 | 0.69 | top 40% in Montana; top 9% in the U.S. |
| Weekend total nurse staffing | 4.44 | 4.26 | 3.50 | top 36% in Montana; top 13% in the U.S. |
| Weekend RN hours (not acuity-adjusted) | 0.90 | 0.71 | 0.48 | top 24% in Montana; top 8% in the U.S. |
| Total nursing staff turnover (%) | 48.3 | 54.8 | 45.8 | top 34% in Montana; bottom 41% in the U.S. |
| RN turnover (%) | 62.5 | 48.3 | 42.9 | bottom 26% in Montana; bottom 19% 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 3.81, RN 0.90, weekend 3.25. 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: 3/5 · long-stay residents: 3/5 · short-stay residents: —/5
Who owns this facility
Non profit - Corporation
| Owner / manager | Type | Role | Stake | Since |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Plains Hospital Corporation | Organization | Direct Ownership Interest | NOT APPLICABLE | 01/17/1971 |
| Baxter, Michael | Individual | Managing Control - Governing Body | NOT APPLICABLE | 01/01/2017 |
| Eberhardt, Lisa | Individual | Corporate Officer | NOT APPLICABLE | 06/13/2016 |
| Eberhardt, Lisa | Individual | Operational/Managerial Control | NOT APPLICABLE | 06/13/2016 |
| Eberhardt, Lisa | Individual | ADP of the SNF | NOT APPLICABLE | 06/13/2016 |
| Eggensperger, Bina | Individual | Managing Control - Governing Body | NOT APPLICABLE | 01/01/2006 |
| Feist Brown, Trista | Individual | Managing Control - Governing Body | NOT APPLICABLE | 05/01/2023 |
| Gentry, Jeanine | Individual | Corporate Officer | NOT APPLICABLE | 05/15/2023 |
| Gentry, Jeanine | Individual | ADP of the SNF | NOT APPLICABLE | 05/15/2023 |
| Hanson, Gregory | Individual | Managing Control - Governing Body | NOT APPLICABLE | 04/01/2008 |
| Hanson, Gregory | Individual | Corporate Officer | NOT APPLICABLE | 04/01/2008 |
| Hanson, Gregory | Individual | Operational/Managerial Control | NOT APPLICABLE | 04/01/2008 |
| Hanson, Gregory | Individual | ADP of the SNF | NOT APPLICABLE | 04/01/2008 |
| Holland, Virginia | Individual | Managing Control - Governing Body | NOT APPLICABLE | 06/01/2017 |
| Ingle, Richard | Individual | Managing Control - Governing Body | NOT APPLICABLE | 01/01/2023 |
| Lawyer, Nicholas | Individual | Managing Control - Governing Body | NOT APPLICABLE | 01/01/2025 |
| Lindsay, Arlene | Individual | Operational/Managerial Control | NOT APPLICABLE | 12/01/2025 |
| Lindsay, Arlene | Individual | ADP of the SNF | NOT APPLICABLE | 12/01/2016 |
| McCarthy, Erin | Individual | Managing Control - Governing Body | NOT APPLICABLE | 01/01/2012 |
| Meaden, Brian | Individual | Managing Control - Governing Body | NOT APPLICABLE | 05/01/2023 |
Questions to ask on your visit
Generated from this facility's actual citation record — bring them to a tour and ask the administrator directly.
- "What specific dementia training do your staff receive, and how do you handle difficult moments without medication?"
- "If someone reports suspected abuse or neglect here, what happens in the first 24 hours?"
- "How do you identify and arrange specialized services for residents with mental health conditions or disabilities?"
- "Who leads your infection prevention program, and how do you make sure staff follow practices like hand hygiene every day?"
- "Tell me about this abuse or neglect citation — what happened, and what specific changes did you make afterward?"
- "When abuse or theft is suspected, who do you notify, how fast, and how do you inform the family?"
- "Who completes resident assessments here, and how do you check them for accuracy?"
- "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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hot Springs Health & Rehabilitation Center | 13.8 mi | Hot Springs, MT | ★★★★☆ | 4/5 |
Compare this facility with the 1 closest →
Facility data as of CMS processing date 2026-08-01. CCN 275107.