Hilo Benioff Medical Center
1190 Waianuenue Avenue, Hilo, HI 96720 · Hawaii County · 52 certified beds · avg 61 residents/day · certified since Jan 1, 1967 · Medicare and Medicaid certified
Certified for both programmes. Certification means the facility can bill Medicaid — it does not mean a Medicaid-funded bed is free right now, so ask directly. Who pays for nursing home care →
Part of chain: HAWAII HEALTH SYSTEMS CORPORATION (7 facilities, chain avg rating 4.2★)
What health inspectors found (on-site government inspections — the most independent evidence available)
Health inspection rating: ★★★☆☆3/5 · 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 · Oct 24, 2022 · F-0689
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 (G): One or a few residents were actually harmed — physically or emotionally — though not put in immediate danger of serious injury or death.
Corrected: Dec 16, 2022 (Deficient, Provider has date of correction)
All citations in the current public record (23)
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Feb 7, 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 7, 2025 | F · Potential for harm, facility-wide | The facility did not train its staff on dementia care and on recognizing and reporting abuse, neglect, and exploitation. |
| Feb 7, 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. · from a complaint |
| Feb 7, 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 7, 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. |
| Feb 7, 2025 | D · Potential for harm, one-off | The facility did not provide a safe, clean, comfortable, and homelike environment, including safe support for residents' daily living needs. |
| Feb 7, 2025 | D · Potential for harm, one-off | The facility did not honor residents' right to voice complaints without discrimination or retaliation, or did not have a working complaint process that resolves issues promptly. |
| Feb 7, 2025 | 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. |
| Feb 7, 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 7, 2025 | D · Potential for harm, one-off | The facility did not provide the help residents need with basic daily activities — like bathing, dressing, eating, and using the bathroom — for residents who cannot do these things on their own. |
| Feb 7, 2025 | 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. |
| Feb 7, 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 7, 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. |
| Feb 7, 2025 | D · Potential for harm, one-off | The facility admitted a resident without a doctor's order, or did not make sure each resident stayed under a doctor's ongoing care. |
| Feb 7, 2025 | D · Potential for harm, one-off | The facility did not have a licensed pharmacist review each resident's complete medication regimen and medical chart every month, or did not follow its own rules for reporting medication problems. |
| Jan 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. |
| Oct 24, 2022 | ▲ G · Actual harm, one-off | The facility did not keep the environment free of accident hazards, or did not provide enough supervision to prevent accidents like falls. |
| Oct 24, 2022 | E · Potential for harm, repeated | The facility did not serve food and drinks that were appetizing, attractive, and at a safe and pleasant temperature. |
| Oct 24, 2022 | D · Potential for harm, one-off | The facility did not allow a resident's chosen representative — often a family member or someone with power of attorney — to exercise the resident's rights on their behalf. When a resident can't speak for themselves, their representative steps into that role. |
| Oct 24, 2022 | 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. |
| Oct 24, 2022 | 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. |
| Oct 24, 2022 | 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. |
| Oct 24, 2022 | D · Potential for harm, one-off | The facility did not protect residents' personal information or did not keep complete, accurate medical records that meet professional standards. |
Inspection trend by year
Citations from standard inspections increased between the last two inspection cycles (1 → 15).
| Year | Citations | Serious (G–L) | Worst severity that year |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 7 | 1 | G ▲ |
| 2024 | 1 | 0 | D |
| 2025 | 15 | 0 | F |
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)
No fines or payment denials in the published 3-year window.
Nurse staffing (from payroll records, adjusted for how much care residents need)
| Measure | This facility | Hawaii avg | U.S. avg | Where it stands |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total nurse staffing (hours per resident per day) | 5.30 | 4.77 | 3.95 | top 24% in Hawaii; top 9% in the U.S. |
| Registered Nurse hours | 1.43 | 1.64 | 0.69 | bottom 34% in Hawaii; top 5% in the U.S. |
| Weekend total nurse staffing | 4.58 | 4.23 | 3.50 | top 27% in Hawaii; top 11% in the U.S. |
| Weekend RN hours (not acuity-adjusted) | 1.09 | 1.33 | 0.48 | bottom 37% in Hawaii; top 5% in the U.S. |
| Total nursing staff turnover (%) | 30.8 | 36.4 | 45.8 | top 43% in Hawaii; top 16% in the U.S. |
| RN turnover (%) | 31.6 | 31.5 | 42.9 | bottom 38% in Hawaii; top 32% 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 5.34, RN 1.44, weekend 4.61. Staffing rating: 5/5.
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
Government - State
| Owner / manager | Type | Role | Stake | Since |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Belcher, Daniel | Individual | Corporate Director | NOT APPLICABLE | 06/01/2020 |
| Brinkman, Daniel | Individual | Corporate Director | NOT APPLICABLE | 07/02/2007 |
| Farias, Chad | Individual | Corporate Director | NOT APPLICABLE | 03/01/2021 |
| Gomez, Lara | Individual | Corporate Director | NOT APPLICABLE | 11/01/2022 |
| Gray, Jerry | Individual | Corporate Director | NOT APPLICABLE | 02/01/2017 |
| Hawaii Health Systems Corporation | Organization | Operational/Managerial Control | NOT APPLICABLE | 07/01/1996 |
| Ho, Brenda | Individual | Corporate Officer | NOT APPLICABLE | 07/01/2016 |
| Ignacio, Jay | Individual | Corporate Director | NOT APPLICABLE | 04/01/2019 |
| Kurohara, Randall | Individual | Corporate Director | NOT APPLICABLE | 02/01/2021 |
| Nunokawa, Clarysse | Individual | Corporate Director | NOT APPLICABLE | 06/01/2019 |
| Sako, Deanna | Individual | Corporate Director | NOT APPLICABLE | 09/01/2018 |
| Skruch, Joseph | Individual | Corporate Director | NOT APPLICABLE | 03/15/2022 |
| Smith, Stephen | Individual | Corporate Director | NOT APPLICABLE | 02/24/2018 |
| Waltjen, Joni | Individual | W-2 Managing Employee | NOT APPLICABLE | 04/23/2001 |
| Wong, Yvonne | Individual | Corporate Director | NOT APPLICABLE | 10/01/2022 |
| Yamanaka, Rae | Individual | Corporate Director | NOT APPLICABLE | 05/17/2016 |
| Zelko-Schlueter, Jennifer | Individual | Corporate Director | NOT APPLICABLE | 07/01/2022 |
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?"
- "Who leads your infection prevention program, and how do you make sure staff follow practices like hand hygiene every day?"
- "What training do all staff get on dementia care and on spotting and reporting abuse?"
- "Tell me about this abuse or neglect citation — what happened, and what specific changes did you make afterward?"
- "Can you show me how medications are stored and secured on the units, including controlled drugs?"
- "Can you give me examples of how your staff protect residents' dignity in everyday care, like bathing and dressing?"
- "Can we tour the resident rooms, bathrooms, and common areas today, including areas not on the usual tour route?"
- "Walk me through what happens when a resident or family files a grievance — who responds and how fast?"
- "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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hale Anuenue Restorative Care | 0.0 mi | Hilo, HI | ★★★★☆ | 2/5 | |
| Yukio Okutsu State Veterans Home | 0.0 mi | Hilo, HI | ★★★★☆ | 3/5 | |
| Legacy Hilo Rehabilitation & Nursing Center | 0.9 mi | Hilo, HI | ★☆☆☆☆ | 1/5 | |
| Life Care Center of Hilo | 2.7 mi | Hilo, HI | ★★★☆☆ | 2/5 |
Compare this facility with the 3 closest →
Facility data as of CMS processing date 2026-08-01. CCN 125002.