Rocky Top Care Center
204 Industrial Park Rd Po Box 659, Rocky Top, TN 37769 · Anderson County · 117 certified beds · avg 83 residents/day · certified since Aug 2, 1990
What health inspectors found (on-site government inspections — the most independent evidence available)
Health inspection rating: ★☆☆☆☆1/5 · CMS overall rating: 1/5
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, facility-wide · Aug 22, 2024 · F-0835 · triggered by a complaint
The facility was not managed in a way that uses its money, staff, and resources effectively and efficiently to care for residents.
Why it matters: Poor administration often shows up as understaffing, supply shortages, and care problems across the whole facility.
Severity (L): A life-threatening or extremely dangerous situation existed throughout the facility. The single most serious citation CMS can issue.
Corrected: Sep 19, 2024 (Deficient, Provider has date of correction)
▲ Immediate jeopardy, facility-wide · Aug 22, 2024 · F-0837
The facility did not have a proper governing body legally responsible for its policies and operations, or that body failed to appoint a properly licensed administrator to manage the facility.
Why it matters: Weak leadership and accountability at the top often show up as problems in residents' daily care.
Severity (L): A life-threatening or extremely dangerous situation existed throughout the facility. The single most serious citation CMS can issue.
Corrected: Sep 19, 2024 (Deficient, Provider has date of correction)
▲ Immediate jeopardy, facility-wide · Aug 22, 2024 · F-0867 · triggered by a complaint
The facility did not run an ongoing quality assurance committee that reviews care problems and creates plans to fix them.
Why it matters: Without a working quality program, the same care problems tend to repeat instead of getting fixed.
Severity (L): A life-threatening or extremely dangerous situation existed throughout the facility. The single most serious citation CMS can issue.
Corrected: Sep 19, 2024 (Deficient, Provider has date of correction)
▲ Immediate jeopardy, facility-wide · Aug 22, 2024 · F-0880 · triggered by a complaint
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.
Why it matters: Weak infection control lets illnesses like flu, COVID-19, and drug-resistant infections spread quickly among vulnerable residents.
Severity (L): A life-threatening or extremely dangerous situation existed throughout the facility. The single most serious citation CMS can issue.
Corrected: Sep 19, 2024 (Deficient, Provider has date of correction)
All citations in the current public record (28)
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Mar 4, 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. |
| Mar 4, 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. |
| Mar 4, 2026 | D · Potential for harm, one-off | The facility did not have a policy covering how food brought in by family and visitors is used and stored safely. |
| Aug 22, 2024 | ▲ L · Immediate jeopardy, facility-wide | The facility was not managed in a way that uses its money, staff, and resources effectively and efficiently to care for residents. · from a complaint |
| Aug 22, 2024 | ▲ L · Immediate jeopardy, facility-wide | The facility did not have a proper governing body legally responsible for its policies and operations, or that body failed to appoint a properly licensed administrator to manage the facility. |
| Aug 22, 2024 | ▲ L · Immediate jeopardy, facility-wide | The facility did not run an ongoing quality assurance committee that reviews care problems and creates plans to fix them. · from a complaint |
| Aug 22, 2024 | ▲ L · Immediate jeopardy, 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. · from a complaint |
| Aug 22, 2024 | F · Potential for harm, facility-wide | The facility did not have enough nursing staff each day to meet every resident's needs, or did not have a licensed nurse in charge on each shift. Adequate staffing is one of the strongest predictors of good care. · from a complaint |
| Aug 22, 2024 | 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. |
| Aug 22, 2024 | E · Potential for harm, repeated | 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. |
| Aug 22, 2024 | E · Potential for harm, repeated | 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 |
| Aug 22, 2024 | E · Potential for harm, repeated | The facility did not protect residents' personal information or did not keep complete, accurate medical records that meet professional standards. |
| Aug 22, 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. · from a complaint |
| Aug 22, 2024 | D · Potential for harm, one-off | 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 |
| Aug 22, 2024 | D · Potential for harm, one-off | The facility provided care that did not meet professional standards of quality — the accepted standards that nurses and other clinicians are expected to follow. · from a complaint |
| Aug 22, 2024 | 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. |
| Aug 22, 2024 | D · Potential for harm, one-off | The facility did not dispose of garbage and refuse properly. |
| Aug 22, 2024 | C · Minimal risk, facility-wide | The facility did not conduct and document a facility-wide assessment of what staff, supplies, and resources it needs to care for its residents properly — during everyday operations, nights, weekends, and emergencies. |
| May 15, 2024 | 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. · from a complaint |
| May 15, 2024 | 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. · from a complaint |
| May 15, 2024 | D · Potential for harm, one-off | 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 |
| May 15, 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 |
| May 15, 2024 | D · Potential for harm, one-off | The facility did not electronically submit complete and accurate staffing information to the government, based on payroll and other verifiable records. · from a complaint |
| Jun 23, 2021 | D · Potential for harm, one-off | The facility did not immediately notify the resident, their doctor, and a family member when something significant happened — such as an injury, a decline in health, or a room change. Families and doctors are entitled to know right away. |
| Jun 23, 2021 | D · Potential for harm, one-off | 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. |
| Jun 23, 2021 | D · Potential for harm, one-off | The facility did not provide proper care for pressure ulcers (bedsores) or did not do enough to prevent new ones from forming. Bedsores develop when residents stay in one position too long without help moving. |
| Jun 23, 2021 | 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. |
| Jun 23, 2021 | D · Potential for harm, one-off | The facility did not have a registered nurse on duty at least 8 hours a day, or did not have a registered nurse serving full-time as director of nursing. |
Inspection trend by year
Citations from standard inspections decreased between the last two inspection cycles (15 → 3).
| Year | Citations | Serious (G–L) | Worst severity that year |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 5 | 0 | D |
| 2024 | 20 | 4 | L ▲ |
| 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 $86,768.
| Date | Type | Amount / length |
|---|---|---|
| Aug 22, 2024 | Fine | $86,768 |
Nurse staffing (from payroll records, adjusted for how much care residents need)
| Measure | This facility | Tennessee avg | U.S. avg | Where it stands |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total nurse staffing (hours per resident per day) | 4.64 | 3.62 | 3.95 | top 10% in Tennessee; top 20% in the U.S. |
| Registered Nurse hours | 1.08 | 0.57 | 0.69 | top 5% in Tennessee; top 13% in the U.S. |
| Weekend total nurse staffing | 4.19 | 3.15 | 3.50 | top 9% in Tennessee; top 18% in the U.S. |
| Weekend RN hours (not acuity-adjusted) | 0.60 | 0.39 | 0.48 | top 11% in Tennessee; top 23% in the U.S. |
| Total nursing staff turnover (%) | 45.7 | 48.9 | 45.8 | top 41% in Tennessee; bottom 48% in the U.S. |
| RN turnover (%) | 44.4 | 43.2 | 42.9 | bottom 45% in Tennessee; bottom 45% 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 4.02, RN 0.93, weekend 3.63. 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
For profit - Corporation
| Owner / manager | Type | Role | Stake | Since |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jetty Core Holdings LLC | Organization | 5% or Greater Indirect Ownership Interest | — | 05/01/2024 |
| Jetty Operations Holdings LLC | Organization | 5% or Greater Direct Ownership Interest | 100% | 05/01/2024 |
| Jetty Operations Holdings LLC | Organization | 5% or Greater Indirect Ownership Interest | — | 05/01/2024 |
| Ratner, Eran | Individual | 5% or Greater Indirect Ownership Interest | — | 05/01/2024 |
| 204 Industrial Park Propco, LLC | Organization | ADP of the SNF | NOT APPLICABLE | 01/09/2025 |
| Core LTC Services LLC | Organization | Operational/Managerial Control | NOT APPLICABLE | 05/01/2024 |
| Core LTC Services LLC | Organization | ADP of the SNF | NOT APPLICABLE | 01/09/2025 |
| Lawrence, Richard | Individual | ADP of the SNF | NOT APPLICABLE | 06/01/2024 |
| Merkle, Mary | Individual | Operational/Managerial Control | NOT APPLICABLE | 06/01/2024 |
| Merkle, Mary | Individual | ADP of the SNF | NOT APPLICABLE | 06/01/2024 |
| Nee, Stephen | Individual | Operational/Managerial Control | NOT APPLICABLE | 05/01/2024 |
| Ratner, Eran | Individual | Operational/Managerial Control | NOT APPLICABLE | 05/01/2024 |
| Unterborn, Cheryl | Individual | Operational/Managerial Control | NOT APPLICABLE | 02/03/2025 |
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 were the findings behind this administration citation, and what has leadership changed since?"
- "Who owns and governs this facility, and how long has the current administrator been here?"
- "How does your quality committee work, and can you give an example of a problem it recently identified 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?"
- "Who is on the team that builds each resident's care plan, and how quickly is it in place after admission?"
- "What are your rules for bringing in my family member's favorite foods, and how are they stored?"
- "What is your nurse and aide staffing ratio on each shift, including nights and weekends?"
- "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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Andersonville TN Opco LLC | 5.7 mi | Andersonville, TN | ★★★☆☆ | 4/5 | |
| The Waters of Clinton, LLC | 6.7 mi | Clinton, TN | ★★★★☆ | 3/5 | |
| Cumberland Village Care | 9.5 mi | Lafollette, TN | ★★★★☆ | 4/5 | |
| Tennova Lafollette Health and Rehab Center | 9.7 mi | Lafollette, TN | ★★★★☆ | 4/5 | |
| Diversicare of Oak Ridge | 14.1 mi | Oak Ridge, TN | ★☆☆☆☆ | 1/5 | SFF |
| NHC Healthcare, Oak Ridge | 14.2 mi | Oak Ridge, TN | ★★★★☆ | 4/5 | |
| Senator Ben Atchley State Veterans' Home | 16.9 mi | Knoxville, TN | ★★★★★ | 5/5 | |
| Beverly Park Place Health and Rehab | 17.4 mi | Knoxville, TN | ★★★☆☆ | 4/5 | |
| Creekview Health and Rehabilitation | 19.5 mi | Knoxville, TN | ★★☆☆☆ | 2/5 | |
| Wellpark Health and Rehabilitation | 19.9 mi | Knoxville, TN | ★★★☆☆ | 2/5 | |
| Legacy Park Health and Rehabilitation | 19.9 mi | Knoxville, TN | ★☆☆☆☆ | 2/5 | |
| West Hills Health and Rehab | 19.9 mi | Knoxville, TN | ★★★☆☆ | 4/5 |
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Facility data as of CMS processing date 2026-08-01. CCN 445259.