Good Samaritan - Waukon
21 East Main Street, Waukon, IA 52172 · Allamakee County · 60 certified beds · avg 52 residents/day · certified since Dec 1, 1994
Part of chain: GOOD SAMARITAN SOCIETY (92 facilities, chain avg rating 3.0★)
What health inspectors found (on-site government inspections — the most independent evidence available)
Health inspection rating: ★★☆☆☆2/5 · CMS overall rating: 2/5
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)
▲ Immediate jeopardy, one-off · Sep 11, 2025 · F-0689 · triggered by a complaint
The facility did not keep the environment free of accident hazards, or did not provide enough supervision to prevent accidents like falls.
Why it matters: This is one of the most common citations and directly relates to falls and injuries, which can be devastating for older adults.
Severity (J): Inspectors found a situation that put a resident's life or safety in immediate danger, affecting one or a few residents. The facility must fix it immediately — these citations often come with large fines.
Corrected: Aug 21, 2025 (Past Non-Compliance)
All citations in the current public record (16)
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 30, 2026 | E · Potential for harm, repeated | The facility did not have enough support staff to safely and effectively run its food and nutrition service. |
| Apr 30, 2026 | E · Potential for harm, repeated | 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. |
| Apr 30, 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. |
| Apr 30, 2026 | D · Potential for harm, one-off | The facility did not create and follow a basic care plan covering a new resident's most immediate needs within 48 hours of admission. The first days are when a new resident is most vulnerable. |
| Apr 30, 2026 | 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. |
| Apr 30, 2026 | 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. |
| Apr 30, 2026 | D · Potential for harm, one-off | The facility did not provide treatment and care that follows the doctor's orders and matches the resident's own preferences and goals. |
| Apr 30, 2026 | D · Potential for harm, one-off | The facility did not provide the care needed to maintain or improve residents' movement and flexibility — such as range-of-motion exercises — leading to avoidable decline. |
| Sep 11, 2025 | ▲ J · Immediate jeopardy, one-off | The facility did not keep the environment free of accident hazards, or did not provide enough supervision to prevent accidents like falls. · from a complaint |
| Apr 16, 2025 | E · Potential for harm, repeated | The facility's quality committee — the internal group responsible for finding and fixing care problems — did not have the required members or did not meet at least every three months. |
| Apr 16, 2025 | D · Potential for harm, one-off | The facility did not enter each resident's assessment information into the required format and send it to the state within 7 days of completing the assessment, as the rules require. |
| Apr 16, 2025 | D · Potential for harm, one-off | The facility did not provide safe and appropriate respiratory care — such as oxygen, breathing treatments, or care for residents on breathing equipment — for residents who needed it. |
| Apr 16, 2025 | D · Potential for harm, one-off | The facility did not keep residents' medications free from unnecessary drugs. Residents should only take medicines they truly need, at the right dose, for a clear reason. |
| Jan 30, 2025 | D · Potential for harm, one-off | The facility did not treat residents with dignity and respect, or did not honor their rights to make their own decisions and communicate freely. This is one of the most fundamental resident rights. · from a complaint |
| Jul 11, 2024 | D · Potential for harm, one-off | 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. |
| Jul 11, 2024 | B · Minimal risk, repeated | The facility did not reassess a resident after a significant change in their condition, such as a sudden decline in health. A full new assessment is required when a resident's condition changes in a major way. |
Inspection trend by year
Citations from standard inspections increased between the last two inspection cycles (4 → 8).
| Year | Citations | Serious (G–L) | Worst severity that year |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | 2 | 0 | D |
| 2025 | 6 | 1 | J ▲ |
| 2026 | 8 | 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 $8,281.
| Date | Type | Amount / length |
|---|---|---|
| Sep 11, 2025 | Fine | $8,281 |
Nurse staffing (from payroll records, adjusted for how much care residents need)
| Measure | This facility | Iowa avg | U.S. avg | Where it stands |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total nurse staffing (hours per resident per day) | 3.77 | 4.37 | 3.95 | bottom 22% in Iowa; top 50% in the U.S. |
| Registered Nurse hours | 1.06 | 0.85 | 0.69 | top 22% in Iowa; top 13% in the U.S. |
| Weekend total nurse staffing | 3.21 | 3.86 | 3.50 | bottom 17% in Iowa; bottom 42% in the U.S. |
| Weekend RN hours (not acuity-adjusted) | 0.51 | 0.51 | 0.48 | top 38% in Iowa; top 31% in the U.S. |
| Total nursing staff turnover (%) | 43.5 | 44.0 | 45.8 | bottom 47% in Iowa; top 46% in the U.S. |
| RN turnover (%) | 18.2 | 42.1 | 42.9 | top 17% in Iowa; top 12% 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 3.17, RN 0.89, weekend 2.70. 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: 2/5 · long-stay residents: 2/5 · short-stay residents: 1/5
Who owns this facility
Non profit - Corporation
| Owner / manager | Type | Role | Stake | Since |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sanford | Organization | 5% or Greater Direct Ownership Interest | 100% | 01/01/2019 |
| Brown, George | Individual | Corporate Director | NOT APPLICABLE | 01/01/2025 |
| Dykhouse, Dana | Individual | Corporate Director | NOT APPLICABLE | 05/30/2024 |
| Engbrecht, Wesley | Individual | Corporate Director | NOT APPLICABLE | 05/30/2024 |
| Fluit, Joel | Individual | Corporate Officer | NOT APPLICABLE | 10/01/2022 |
| Gassen, William | Individual | Corporate Director | NOT APPLICABLE | 05/30/2024 |
| Gassen, William | Individual | Corporate Officer | NOT APPLICABLE | 05/30/2024 |
| Gulsvig, Neil | Individual | Corporate Director | NOT APPLICABLE | 05/30/2024 |
| Herseth Sandlin, Stephanie | Individual | Corporate Director | NOT APPLICABLE | 05/30/2024 |
| Lederman, Mordechai | Individual | Operational/Managerial Control | NOT APPLICABLE | 01/01/2020 |
| Lederman, Mordechai | Individual | ADP of the SNF | NOT APPLICABLE | 01/01/2020 |
| Lundeen, Mark | Individual | Corporate Director | NOT APPLICABLE | 05/30/2024 |
| McCausland, Maureen | Individual | Corporate Director | NOT APPLICABLE | 01/01/2025 |
| Middleton, Aimee | Individual | Corporate Officer | NOT APPLICABLE | 01/27/2022 |
| Molbert, Lauris | Individual | Corporate Director | NOT APPLICABLE | 05/30/2024 |
| Morrison, Tony | Individual | Operational/Managerial Control | NOT APPLICABLE | 01/01/2019 |
| Morrison, Tony | Individual | ADP of the SNF | NOT APPLICABLE | 01/01/2019 |
| North, Andrew | Individual | Corporate Director | NOT APPLICABLE | 05/30/2024 |
| Olson, Nicholas | Individual | Corporate Officer | NOT APPLICABLE | 04/08/2024 |
| Schema, Nathan | Individual | Corporate Officer | NOT APPLICABLE | 01/01/2022 |
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 is your falls rate, and what specific steps do you take to prevent falls and supervise residents at risk?"
- "How is your kitchen staffed, and have meals ever been delayed because of staffing?"
- "What did your most recent kitchen inspection find, and can I see how food is stored and prepared?"
- "How do you identify and arrange specialized services for residents with mental health conditions or disabilities?"
- "What does the care plan for a brand-new resident cover in the first 48 hours, and who writes it?"
- "Can you show me an example care plan, and how are families included when it's created and updated?"
- "Who is on the team that builds each resident's care plan, and how quickly is it in place after admission?"
- "How do you make sure each resident's care follows the doctor's orders, and what changed after this citation?"
- "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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Northgate Care Center | 0.8 mi | Waukon, IA | ★☆☆☆☆ | 1/5 | SFF |
| Thornton Manor Nursing and Care Center | 13.6 mi | Lansing, IA | ★★★★☆ | 3/5 | |
| Wellington Place | 13.7 mi | Decorah, IA | ★★★☆☆ | 4/5 | |
| The Highlands | 16.3 mi | Decorah, IA | ★★☆☆☆ | 2/5 | |
| Ossian Care Center | 17.0 mi | Ossian, IA | ★★☆☆☆ | 2/5 |
Compare this facility with the 3 closest →
Facility data as of CMS processing date 2026-08-01. CCN 165240.