Where They Care · plain answers about nursing homes

Guardian Angels Care Center

400 Evans Avenue, Elk River, MN 55330 · 120 beds · Non profit - Corporation

The records flag: 4 citations 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
4.98
RNs, LPNs and aides · state average 4.83
Weekend RN coverage
−42%
vs weekdays
Staff turnover
51%
state average 42%
4 citations 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.
Registered nurse staffing above the state average
1.55 hours per resident per day, against a state average of 1.21.

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
1.55 hrs
Weekends
0.90 hrs
MN average
1.21 hrs

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

Registered nurse coverage drops about 42% at weekends.

Staff turnover: 51%

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 18 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
4
Potential for harm
No one harmed yet, but conditions could allow it
14
No harm
Rule and paperwork findings
0

7 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 $98,353 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
Guardian Angels Health Services, INC. Operational or managerial control 01/01/1967
Heinecke, Carlie Managing employee, Additional disclosable party 05/06/2024
Larson, Traci Managing employee, Corporate officer, Operational or managerial control 05/02/2022
Mcdevitt, Dean Managing employee 02/04/2019
Sonntag, Robert Managing employee (contracted) 03/15/2006
Herrmann, Daryl Corporate officer 01/01/2018
Krieger, Linda Corporate officer 04/15/2010
Leclaire, Joyce Corporate director 01/01/2019
Lloyd Roscoe, Nancy Corporate director 01/01/2018
Mowry, Trisha Corporate director 01/01/2021
Nagorski, Jeff Corporate director 01/01/2014
Nichols, Joanie Corporate director 01/01/2016
Raitz, Julie Corporate director 01/01/2017
Robinson, Chris Corporate director 01/01/2017
Schuler, Lynn Corporate director 01/01/2018
Schultz, Arlo Corporate director 01/01/2015
Vetsch, Gordy Corporate director 01/01/2018
Zerwas, Nick Corporate director 09/16/2020

Of the 18 parties disclosed here, 0 hold 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
Cura of Monticello
Monticello
10.7 2 1.55 −31%
Anoka Rehabilitation and Living Center
Anoka
10.8 4 1.38 −42%
The Estates at Twin Rivers LLC
Anoka
10.9 1 0.99 −41%
The Villas at Osseo LLC
Osseo
15.4 2 1.14 −45%
Park River Healthcare and Rehabilitation Center Ll
Coon Rapids
16.6 2 0.78 −39%
Saint Therese at Oxbow Lake
Brooklyn Park
17.0 3 2.20 −31%
The Birches at Trillium Woods
Plymouth
17.5 5 1.49 −53%
Park View Health Care Center
Buffalo
18.0 5 1.57 −45%

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. Turnover here is about 51%. How long has the director of nursing been in post?
  3. Medicare's records show a citation at the most serious level. What happened, and what changed afterwards?
  4. 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.