Where They Care · plain answers about nursing homes

Northern Mahaska Specialty Care

2401 Crestview Drive, Oskaloosa, IA 52577 · 79 beds · Non profit - Corporation

The records flag: 1 citation at the most serious level.

Everything here comes from Medicare's own inspection and payroll records. We don't rank facilities or take payment from them.

Medicare overall rating
★★
Below average · 2 of 5
All nursing staff, hours / resident
3.77
RNs, LPNs and aides · state average 4.37
Weekend RN coverage
−55%
vs weekdays
Staff turnover
31%
state average 44%
1 citation at the most serious level
Inspectors judged that residents were placed in danger of serious injury or death. See the inspection section for dates and whether each was corrected.
Weekend nurse coverage drops 55%
Some weekend drop is normal across the industry; a fall this size is at the steep end. Try to visit on a weekend.

These are drawn straight from Medicare's records. We report what the record says — we don't rate facilities or judge the care given in them.

Who's actually on the floor

Staffing is the thing most closely tied to day-to-day quality of care, and it's the number families most often never see. This is registered nurses only — a smaller figure than the all-staff total above, because it counts the most highly qualified staff on their own — per resident, per day, comparing an average weekday against an average weekend.

Weekdays
0.65 hrs
Weekends
0.29 hrs
IA average
0.85 hrs

Registered nurses only — hours per resident per day. Longer is better.

Registered nurse coverage drops about 55% at weekends.

Staff turnover: 31%

High turnover matters because continuity does — a nurse who knows your mother notices when something is different about her. Someone on their second shift doesn't have that baseline.

What inspectors found

State inspectors visit at least once a year and after complaints. Over the last three years this facility received 10 citations. Raw counts mislead, though — a paperwork slip and a resident being harmed both count as one. Here they are by how serious inspectors judged them.

SeverityCitations
Immediate jeopardy
Residents placed at risk of serious injury or death
1
Potential for harm
No one harmed yet, but conditions could allow it
9
No harm
Rule and paperwork findings
0

4 of these came from someone filing a complaint rather than a routine visit — worth weighing differently, because it means a person picked up the phone. All findings are recorded as corrected.

Medicare has issued $39,033 in fines here over the past three years.

Disclosed affiliations

Medicare requires every facility to disclose the people and companies connected to it. Most names below are not owners — they are officers, directors, managers, trustees, and what Medicare calls “additional disclosable parties.” The role beside each name is the one Medicare recorded. This is worth reading because operators tend to run their facilities alike: where the same group stands behind a dozen homes, the record across all twelve tells you more than any single inspection does.

NameRole recorded by MedicareSince
Care Initiatives
100% ownership interest
Direct owner (5% or more) 03/01/2014
Lewis, Kaitlyn Operational or managerial control, Additional disclosable party 03/02/2023
Mahler, Carla Operational or managerial control 01/01/2024
Wei, Shipeng Operational or managerial control, Additional disclosable party 01/01/2024
Beal, Michael Corporate director, Corporate officer 06/01/2020
Bowen, Lane Corporate director 01/01/2021
Carothers, Mary Jane Corporate director 01/01/2023
Childs, Kevin Corporate director 04/01/2023
Corless, Peter Corporate director 01/01/2025
Dixon, David Corporate officer 06/01/2016
Drake, Emily Corporate officer 01/04/2023
Gilyard, Tanya Corporate officer 05/23/2025
Krein, Keith Corporate director 06/29/2022
Kuhn, Jeramy Corporate officer 06/25/2008
Mcdyer, Jessica Corporate officer 02/22/2023
Rust, Elizabeth Corporate director 01/01/2023
Sturm, Denise Corporate director 01/01/2021
Upmeyer, Linda Corporate director 01/01/2023
Volm, Johanna Corporate officer 01/01/2021
Computershare Corporate Trust Company, Na Holds a mortgage interest (5% or more), Additional disclosable party 02/01/2025

Of the 20 parties disclosed here, 1 holds an ownership interest; the rest are recorded in a management, officer, financial, or other disclosable capacity. A percentage is shown only where Medicare published one — for most disclosed parties it publishes none.

Other options nearby

Most families are choosing between whatever is close enough to visit often — and visiting often is itself one of the better protections a resident has. These are the closest 8 facilities.

FacilityMilesRating Nurse hrsWeekend
Oskaloosa Care Center
Oskaloosa
1.6 1 0.37 −25%
Crystal Heights Care Center
Oskaloosa
1.6 2 0.48 −40%
The Cottages
Pella
16.0 2 1.05 −42%
Montezuma Specialty Care
Montezuma
19.4 3 0.96 −30%
Oakwood Specialty Care
Albia
22.4 4 0.59 −38%
Stone Cottage Care Center
Sigourney
22.6 1 0.47 −20%
Manor House Care Center
Sigourney
22.7 2 0.43 −43%
Ridgewood Specialty Care
Ottumwa
23.2 3 0.93 −39%

Weekend column shows the change in registered-nurse coverage at weekends compared with weekdays.

Worth asking on a visit

Records only tell you so much. These are the questions this facility's particular numbers suggest you ask — go on a weekend if you possibly can.

  1. Can I visit on a Sunday rather than a weekday? How many registered nurses are on duty then, and for how many residents?
  2. Medicare's records show a citation at the most serious level. What happened, and what changed afterwards?
  3. Who will actually be caring for my relative at 3am on a Saturday — an agency nurse or someone on staff?

Where these numbers come from

All figures are published by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. Different measures cover different periods — some are considerably older than others, so each is dated separately below rather than under one "last updated" stamp.

Staffing hours
Jan–Mar 2026
Staff turnover
calendar year 2025
Inspections & citations
Jul 2023 – Jun 2026
Fines & penalties
last 3 years
Ownership
as reported to Medicare
Star rating & file release
CMS file dated 1 July 2026

We report what the records say and don't draw conclusions about care quality. If you believe something on this page is wrong — email a correction. It reaches a person, not a form. We check every report, fix what is wrong, and say so on the page; see how we handle corrections. If you work at this facility and our figures disagree with your own records, we want to hear that too.