Southern Hills Specialty Care
444 North West View Drive, Osceola, IA 50213 · Clarke County · 90 certified beds · avg 84 residents/day · certified since Aug 9, 1996
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.
All citations in the current public record (8)
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Aug 21, 2025 | F · Potential for harm, facility-wide | 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. |
| Aug 21, 2025 | 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. |
| Aug 21, 2025 | 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 21, 2025 | 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. |
| Aug 21, 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. |
| Apr 10, 2025 | C · Minimal risk, facility-wide | The facility did not maintain an effective pest control program to prevent or deal with mice, insects, or other pests. · from a complaint |
| Sep 12, 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. |
| Dec 12, 2023 | 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. · from a complaint |
Inspection trend by year
Citations from standard inspections increased between the last two inspection cycles (1 → 5).
| Year | Citations | Serious (G–L) | Worst severity that year |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | 1 | 0 | D |
| 2024 | 1 | 0 | E |
| 2025 | 6 | 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)
1 fine totaling $36,865.
| Date | Type | Amount / length |
|---|---|---|
| Aug 18, 2024 | Fine | $36,865 |
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) | 3.85 | 4.37 | 3.95 | bottom 29% in Iowa; top 46% in the U.S. |
| Registered Nurse hours | 0.68 | 0.85 | 0.69 | bottom 34% in Iowa; top 38% in the U.S. |
| Weekend total nurse staffing | 3.38 | 3.86 | 3.50 | bottom 27% in Iowa; top 48% in the U.S. |
| Weekend RN hours (not acuity-adjusted) | 0.22 | 0.51 | 0.48 | bottom 2% in Iowa; bottom 15% in the U.S. |
| Total nursing staff turnover (%) | 40.4 | 44.0 | 45.8 | top 46% in Iowa; top 37% in the U.S. |
| RN turnover (%) | 55.6 | 42.1 | 42.9 | bottom 32% in Iowa; bottom 28% 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 3.38, RN 0.60, weekend 2.97. Staffing rating: 3/5.
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: 2/5
Who owns this facility
Non profit - Corporation
| Owner / manager | Type | Role | Stake | Since |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Care Initiatives | Organization | 5% or Greater Direct Ownership Interest | 100% | 08/01/1989 |
| 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 |
| Bushong, Tammy | Individual | Operational/Managerial Control | NOT APPLICABLE | 01/10/2025 |
| Bushong, Tammy | Individual | ADP of the SNF | NOT APPLICABLE | 08/04/2025 |
| 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 |
| 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 |
| 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 |
| Upmeyer, Linda | Individual | Corporate Director | NOT APPLICABLE | 06/29/2022 |
Questions to ask on your visit
Generated from this facility's actual citation record — bring them to a tour and ask the administrator directly.
- "How does your quality improvement program work, and can you share a recent example of a problem you found and fixed?"
- "What did your most recent kitchen inspection find, and can I see how food is stored and prepared?"
- "Tell me about this abuse or neglect citation — what happened, and what specific changes did you make afterward?"
- "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?"
- "How is pest control handled here, and when was the last treatment or inspection?"
- "If someone reports suspected abuse or neglect here, what happens in the first 24 hours?"
- "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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Westview Acres Care Center | 20.5 mi | Leon, IA | ★★★★☆ | 4/5 | |
| Chariton Specialty Care | 24.0 mi | Chariton, IA | ★★☆☆☆ | 2/5 | |
| Westview of Indianola Care Center | 24.0 mi | Indianola, IA | ★★★★★ | 5/5 | |
| Good Samaritan - Indianola | 24.4 mi | Indianola, IA | ★☆☆☆☆ | 1/5 | |
| Azria Health Winterset | 24.4 mi | Winterset, IA | ★★☆☆☆ | 2/5 | |
| The Village | 25.3 mi | Indianola, IA | ★★★★★ | 4/5 | |
| Norwalk Nursing and Rehabilitation Center | 29.8 mi | Norwalk, IA | ★★★☆☆ | 4/5 | |
| Lamoni Specialty Care | 30.3 mi | Lamoni, IA | ★★★★★ | 5/5 | |
| Accura Healthcare of Creston | 30.6 mi | Creston, IA | ★★☆☆☆ | 2/5 | |
| Corydon Specialty Care | 30.8 mi | Corydon, IA | ★★★★☆ | 4/5 | |
| Regency Care Center | 31.1 mi | Norwalk, IA | ★☆☆☆☆ | 1/5 | abuse |
| Creston Specialty Care | 32.4 mi | Creston, IA | ★★☆☆☆ | 2/5 |
Compare this facility with the 3 closest →
Facility data as of CMS processing date 2026-08-01. CCN 165293.