Ridgewood Specialty Care
1977 Albia Road, Ottumwa, IA 52501 · Wapello County · 60 certified beds · avg 54 residents/day · certified since Jul 1, 1994
Part of chain: CARE INITIATIVES (43 facilities, chain avg rating 2.9★)
What health inspectors found (on-site government inspections — the most independent evidence available)
Health inspection rating: ★★★☆☆3/5 · CMS overall rating: 3/5
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 · Oct 31, 2024 · F-0805
The facility did not prepare and serve food in a form that meets each resident's individual needs — for example, chopped, pureed, or softened food for residents with chewing or swallowing problems.
Why it matters: Food served in the wrong texture can cause choking or lead residents to stop eating and lose weight.
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: Nov 1, 2024 (Deficient, Provider has date of correction)
All citations in the current public record (18)
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Dec 22, 2025 | D · Potential for harm, one-off | The facility's menus did not meet residents' nutritional needs, or were not prepared in advance, followed as written, kept up to date, or reviewed by a dietician. |
| Dec 22, 2025 | D · Potential for harm, one-off | The facility did not have a written plan describing how it runs its quality improvement program — the ongoing process of finding problems in care and fixing them. |
| Dec 22, 2025 | 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 31, 2024 | ▲ J · Immediate jeopardy, one-off | The facility did not prepare and serve food in a form that meets each resident's individual needs — for example, chopped, pureed, or softened food for residents with chewing or swallowing problems. |
| Oct 31, 2024 | E · Potential for harm, repeated | The facility's menus did not meet residents' nutritional needs, or were not prepared in advance, followed as written, kept up to date, or reviewed by a dietician. |
| Oct 31, 2024 | 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. |
| Oct 31, 2024 | 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 |
| Oct 31, 2024 | D · Potential for harm, one-off | The facility did not make reasonable adjustments to fit each resident's individual needs and preferences — things like call buttons within reach, preferred wake-up times, or accessible room setups. |
| Oct 31, 2024 | 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. |
| Oct 31, 2024 | 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 31, 2024 | 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. · from a complaint |
| Oct 31, 2024 | 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. · from a complaint |
| Oct 31, 2024 | D · Potential for 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. · from a complaint |
| Apr 11, 2024 | 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. · from a complaint |
| Apr 11, 2024 | 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. · from a complaint |
| Feb 15, 2024 | 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. · from a complaint |
| Oct 5, 2023 | 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. |
| Oct 5, 2023 | D · Potential for harm, one-off | The facility did not make sure special medical diets — like low-sodium or diabetic diets — were properly ordered by the resident's doctor or managed by a qualified dietitian as state law allows. |
Inspection trend by year
Citations from standard inspections decreased between the last two inspection cycles (10 → 3).
| Year | Citations | Serious (G–L) | Worst severity that year |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | 2 | 0 | D |
| 2024 | 13 | 1 | J ▲ |
| 2025 | 3 | 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 $8,999.
| Date | Type | Amount / length |
|---|---|---|
| Oct 31, 2024 | Fine | $8,999 |
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) | 3.90 | 4.37 | 3.95 | bottom 32% in Iowa; top 44% in the U.S. |
| Registered Nurse hours | 0.93 | 0.85 | 0.69 | top 34% in Iowa; top 19% in the U.S. |
| Weekend total nurse staffing | 3.59 | 3.86 | 3.50 | bottom 41% in Iowa; top 38% in the U.S. |
| Weekend RN hours (not acuity-adjusted) | 0.57 | 0.51 | 0.48 | top 30% in Iowa; top 26% 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 (%) | 22.2 | 42.1 | 42.9 | top 24% in Iowa; top 17% 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 3.27, RN 0.78, weekend 3.01. 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: 5/5 · short-stay residents: 3/5
Who owns this facility
Non profit - Corporation
| Owner / manager | Type | Role | Stake | Since |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Care Initiatives | Organization | 5% or Greater Direct Ownership Interest | 100% | 11/12/2010 |
| Beal, Michael | Individual | Corporate Director | NOT APPLICABLE | 06/01/2020 |
| Beal, Michael | Individual | Corporate Officer | NOT APPLICABLE | 06/01/2020 |
| Bowen, Lane | Individual | Corporate Director | NOT APPLICABLE | 01/01/2021 |
| Carothers, Mary Jane | Individual | Corporate Director | NOT APPLICABLE | 01/01/2023 |
| Childs, Kevin | Individual | Corporate Director | NOT APPLICABLE | 04/01/2023 |
| Computershare Corporate Trust Company, Na | Organization | 5% or Greater Mortgage Interest | NOT APPLICABLE | 01/01/2025 |
| Computershare Corporate Trust Company, Na | Organization | ADP of the SNF | NOT APPLICABLE | 08/05/2025 |
| Corless, Peter | Individual | Corporate Director | NOT APPLICABLE | 01/01/2025 |
| Dixon, David | Individual | Corporate Officer | NOT APPLICABLE | 06/01/2016 |
| Drake, Emily | Individual | Corporate Officer | NOT APPLICABLE | 01/04/2023 |
| Gilyard, Tanya | Individual | Corporate Officer | NOT APPLICABLE | 05/23/2025 |
| Gorman, Valeria | Individual | Operational/Managerial Control | NOT APPLICABLE | 03/14/2025 |
| Gorman, Valeria | Individual | ADP of the SNF | NOT APPLICABLE | 08/05/2025 |
| Krein, Keith | Individual | Corporate Director | NOT APPLICABLE | 06/29/2022 |
| Kuhn, Jeramy | Individual | Corporate Officer | NOT APPLICABLE | 06/25/2008 |
| Mahler, Carla | Individual | Operational/Managerial Control | NOT APPLICABLE | 01/01/2024 |
| McDyer, Jessica | Individual | Corporate Officer | NOT APPLICABLE | 02/22/2023 |
| Rust, Elizabeth | Individual | Corporate Director | NOT APPLICABLE | 01/01/2023 |
| Sturm, Denise | Individual | Corporate Director | NOT APPLICABLE | 01/01/2021 |
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 handle residents who need modified food textures, and how do you make those meals appetizing?"
- "Who reviews your menus, and can I see this week's menu and join my family member for a meal?"
- "How does your quality improvement program work, and can you share a recent example of a problem you found and fixed?"
- "Who leads your infection prevention program, and how do you make sure staff follow practices like hand hygiene every day?"
- "What did your most recent kitchen inspection find, and can I see how food is stored and prepared?"
- "Can you give me examples of how your staff protect residents' dignity in everyday care, like bathing and dressing?"
- "Can you give me examples of how you adjust daily routines and room setups to fit each resident's preferences?"
- "Can we tour the resident rooms, bathrooms, and common areas today, including areas not on the usual tour route?"
- "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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Good Samaritan - Ottumwa | 0.3 mi | Ottumwa, IA | ★★☆☆☆ | 2/5 | |
| Accura Healthcare of Ottumwa | 2.2 mi | Ottumwa, IA | ★★★★☆ | 4/5 | |
| Bloomfield Care Center | 17.4 mi | Bloomfield, IA | ★★★☆☆ | 3/5 | |
| Oakwood Specialty Care | 18.1 mi | Albia, IA | ★★★★☆ | 3/5 |
Compare this facility with the 3 closest →
Facility data as of CMS processing date 2026-08-01. CCN 165223.