Essentia Health Homestead
115 10th Avenue Northeast, Deer River, MN 56636 · Itasca County · (218) 246-4336
32 certified beds, about 21 residents a day · Non profit - Corporation · Medicare and Medicaid since 1987
Inside a hospital Certified for Medicaid Certified for Medicare
Overall
2 of 5
Health inspections
1 of 5
Staffing
5 of 5
Quality measures
4 of 5
CMS Care Compare ratings, data as of September 1, 2026 · CCN 245428 · See it on Medicare.gov · Compare with other homes
The record in brief
At its most recent standard inspection, on April 22, 2026, inspectors cited 1 health deficiency (the Minnesota average is 7.1, the national average 9.2).
Of 15 health citations since May 2024, 3 were rated as actual harm or immediate jeopardy to residents (1 immediate jeopardy).
CMS lists 2 fines totaling $67,727 in the last three years; the largest was $40,349, and the latest is dated March 31, 2026.
Nurses and nurse aides worked 4.97 hours per resident per day, against 4.19 across Minnesota and 3.86 nationally. Registered nurses accounted for 1.71 of those hours.
50.0% of nursing staff left within the year CMS measured (Minnesota average 42.2%).
CMS links it to Essentia Health, an affiliated group of 6 nursing homes.
Health inspections
Federal rules call for a standard inspection at least every 15 months, plus a visit whenever a complaint is filed. Each mark below is one citation, colored by how serious inspectors rated it. How to read a citation.
Under each citation, the quoted text is the inspector's own summary from the federal statement of deficiencies (CMS form 2567), word for word apart from a privacy scrub; CMS removes residents' and staff names before it publishes the text. The full notes are on Medicare.gov.
205/24
503/25
207/25
312/25
103/26
104/26
105/26
Potential for minimal harm Potential for more than minimal harm Actual harm Immediate jeopardy Found on a complaint visit
Where its citations fall on CMS's grid
CMS rates every citation by how much harm it caused (rows) and how many residents it touched (columns). The count in each box is this home's, across all 15 health citations on file.
Severity
Isolated
Pattern
Widespread
Immediate jeopardy
0J
1K
0L
Actual harm
2G
0H
0I
Potential for more than minimal harm
7D
1E
2F
Potential for minimal harm
0A
0B
2C
May 18, 2026Complaint inspection · 1 citation
- G Ensure that a nursing home area is free from accident hazards and provides adequate supervision to prevent accidents.
Inspectors wroteBased on observation, interview and document review, the facility failed to ensure the care plan was followed for 1 of 3 residents (R1) reviewed for falls. This resulted in actual harm to R1 when she fell out of bed and sustained a femur (the longest, heaviest, and strongest bone in the human body, located in the upper leg) fracture.
April 22, 2026Standard inspection · 1 citation
- D Provide and implement an infection prevention and control program.
Inspectors wroteBased on observation, interview, and document review, the facility to disinfect a point of care glucose monitor between the use for 2 of 2 residents (R5, R18) who were observed to have their blood glucose checked.
March 31, 2026Complaint inspection · 1 citation
- G Ensure that a nursing home area is free from accident hazards and provides adequate supervision to prevent accidents.
Inspectors wroteBased on observation, interview and document review the facility failed to ensure care planned interventions were implemented to reduce the risk for falls for 1 of 3 residents (R1) reviewed for falls. This resulted in actual harm to R1 who fell from her wheelchair and sustained a fracture, head injury and lacerations to her hand.
December 17, 2025Complaint inspection · 3 citations
- K Ensure that nurses and nurse aides have the appropriate competencies to care for every resident in a way that maximizes each resident's well being.
Inspectors wroteBased on observation, interview and document review, the facility failed to ensure an un-licensed nursing student (NS) was supervised during resident medication administration, including significant medication such as insulin, liquid morphine and other controlled substances. In addition, NS did not possess a nursing license, competencies, or skills set to provide necessary resident nursing services nor other certification required for medication administration. This had the likelihood for a serious adverse outcome and placed 4 of 4 residents (R2, R3, R6, R7) in immediate Jeopardy (IJ). The IJ began on 12/12/25, when the NS was observed administering insulin to a resident without direct supervision by a licensed nurse. The administrator was notified of the immediate jeopardy at 5:05 p.m. on 12/16/25. [...]
- D Honor the resident's right to voice grievances without discrimination or reprisal and the facility must establish a grievance policy and make prompt efforts to resolve grievances.
Inspectors wroteBased on interview and document review the facility failed to implement a grievance process for 1 of 8 residents reviewed who expressed care concerns to the facility.
- D Ensure that a nursing home area is free from accident hazards and provides adequate supervision to prevent accidents.
Inspectors wroteBased on observation, interview and document review the facility failed to ensure staff utilized the proper sling sizes when performing transfers via mechanical lift for 4 of 5 residents (R1, R2, R4, R5) who utilized a mechanical lift for transfers.
July 30, 2025Complaint inspection · 2 citations
- D Timely report suspected abuse, neglect, or theft and report the results of the investigation to proper authorities.
Inspectors wroteBased on interview and document review the facility failed to report allegations of drug diversion to the state agency (SA) and law enforcement within 24 hours for 4 of 4 residents (R1, R2, R3, R4) reviewed for drug diversion. This had the potential to affect all residents who were prescribed narcotics.
- C Develop and implement policies and procedures to prevent abuse, neglect, and theft.
Inspectors wroteBased on interview and document review the facility failed to develop policies and procedures for when to report a suspected crime to law enforcement. This had the potential to affect all residents residing in the facility.
March 12, 2025Standard inspection · 5 citations
- F Ensure residents have reasonable access to and privacy in their use of communication methods.
Inspectors wroteBased on interview the facility failed to ensure residents' mail and packages were delivered on Saturdays for 2 of 2 residents (R2, R8) who voiced concerns with mail delivery. This deficient practice had the potential to affect all 20 residents residing in the facility.
- F Electronically submit to CMS complete and accurate direct care staffing information, based on payroll and other verifiable and auditable data.
Inspectors wroteBased on interview and document review, the facility failed to accurately submit hours for the payroll-based journal system (PB&J) staffing data to Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). This had the potential to affect all 20 residents residing in the facility.
- D Implement gradual dose reductions(GDR) and non-pharmacological interventions, unless contraindicated, prior to initiating or instead of continuing psychotropic medication; and PRN orders for psychotropic medications are only used when the medication is necessary and PRN use is limited.
Inspectors wroteBased on interview and document review the facility failed to identify a diagnosis for a medication for 1 of 5 residents (R4) reviewed for unnecessary medications.
- D Ensure drugs and biologicals used in the facility are labeled in accordance with currently accepted professional principles; and all drugs and biologicals must be stored in locked compartments, separately locked, compartments for controlled drugs.
Inspectors wroteBased on observation, interview and document review the facility failed to ensure medications were properly labeled to prevent medication errors for 1 of 7 residents (R11) observed during medication pass.
- C Post nurse staffing information every day.
Inspectors wroteBased on observation, interview and document review, the facility failed to ensure required nurse staffing information was consistently posted on a daily basis. This had potential to affect all 20 residents, staff, and visitors who may wish to view the information.
May 16, 2024Standard inspection · 2 citations
- E Provide and implement an infection prevention and control program.
Inspectors wroteBased on observation, interview, and record review, the facility failed to ensure that residents dining in the main dining room were given an opportunity to sanitize their hands prior to meal consumption. This deficient practice had the potential to impact all resident who dined in the main dining room.
- D Implement gradual dose reductions(GDR) and non-pharmacological interventions, unless contraindicated, prior to initiating or instead of continuing psychotropic medication; and PRN orders for psychotropic medications are only used when the medication is necessary and PRN use is limited.
Inspectors wroteBased on interview and document review, the facility failed to ensure as-needed (PRN) antipsychotic medication use was limited to 14 days or notes from a provider face to face visit to demonstrate medical justification was provided to support ongoing use for 2 of 5 residents (R16, R20) reviewed for unnecessary medication use.
Fire safety inspections
11 fire safety citations on file: 2 on April 22, 2026, 7 on March 12, 2025, 2 on May 16, 2024.
Every fire safety citation11 citations
- E Add doors in an exit area that do not require the use of a key from the exit side unless in case of special locking arrangements.
- D Inspect, test, and maintain automatic sprinkler systems.
- F Ensure that special areas are constructed so that walls can resist fire for one hour or have an approved fire extinguishing system.
- F Inspect, test, and maintain automatic sprinkler systems.
- F Have simulated fire drills held at unexpected times.
- F To conduct inspection, testing and maintenance of fire doors by qualified individuals.
- F Ensure receptacles at patient bed locations and where general anesthesia is administered, are tested after initial installation, replacement or servicing.
- D Provide properly protected cooking facilities.
- D Properly select, install, inspect, or maintain portable fire extinguishes.
- F Ensure that special areas are constructed so that walls can resist fire for one hour or have an approved fire extinguishing system.
- F Install smoke barrier doors that can resist smoke for at least 20 minutes.
Fines and payment denials
| Date | Penalty | Amount or length |
|---|---|---|
| March 31, 2026 | Fine | $27,378 |
| December 17, 2025 | Fine | $40,349 |
A payment denial means Medicare and Medicaid stopped paying for new admissions for that period.
Staffing
Hours of care per resident per day, from the payroll records every home sends CMS. Higher means more staff time with each resident.
| Measure | This home | Minnesota | United States |
|---|---|---|---|
| All nursing staff (RN, LPN and aides) | 4.97 | 4.19 | 3.86 |
| Registered nurses | 1.71 | 1.06 | 0.69 |
| All nursing staff on weekends | 4.44 | 3.71 | 3.42 |
| Nurse aides | 2.56 | ||
| Licensed practical nurses | 0.71 | ||
| Nursing staff turnover (share who left in a year) | 50.0% | 42.2% | 45.8% |
| Registered nurse turnover | 40.0% | 38.6% | 42.9% |
| Administrators who left | 0 |
CMS expects 3.36 hours a day for residents as sick as this home's (its case-mix figure). The staffing star compares the two.
Staffing by quarter, from daily payroll records
Every nursing home sends CMS its staff hours for each day (the Payroll Based Journal). Here they are added up by quarter. The latest quarter is the one behind the figures above. In January to March 2026, nursing staff hours per resident were 5.19 on weekdays and 4.44 on weekends, 14% lower on weekends (nationally, weekends ran 15% lower). Contract or agency staff worked 0.0% of nursing hours, against 5.3% nationally. Total nursing hours per resident went from 4.90 in April to June 2025 to 4.97 in January to March 2026.
| Quarter | All nursing staff | Registered nurses | Weekdays | Weekends | Contract staff share | Days with no RN hours | Residents a day |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan to Mar 2026 | 4.97 | 1.71 | 5.19 | 4.44 | 0.0% | 0 of 90 | 21 |
| Oct to Dec 2025 | 4.47 | 1.61 | 4.73 | 3.79 | 0.0% | 0 of 92 | 21 |
| Jul to Sep 2025 | 5.00 | 1.71 | 5.34 | 4.14 | 0.0% | 0 of 92 | 22 |
| Apr to Jun 2025 | 4.90 | 1.48 | 5.24 | 4.05 | 11.6% | 0 of 91 | 22 |
| United States, Jan to Mar 2026 | 3.75 | 0.62 | 3.92 | 3.33 | 5.3% | 0.5% of days | |
| Minnesota, Jan to Mar 2026 | 4.19 | 1.05 | 4.38 | 3.73 | 5.2% | 0.8% of days |
Hours per resident per day: staff hours in the quarter divided by resident days (the daily census CMS derives from resident assessments). Registered nurses include the director of nursing and RNs with administrative duties; aides include nurse aides in training and medication aides, as in CMS's own staffing measure. How these are calculated.
Quality measures
The measures CMS uses for the quality star. Lower is better for every one of them.
| Measure | This home | Minnesota | US |
|---|---|---|---|
| Percentage of long-stay residents whose need for help with daily activities has increased Long Stay residents, 2025Q2-2026Q1 | 7.7 | 18.2 | 13.9 |
| Percentage of long-stay residents with a catheter inserted and left in their bladder Long Stay residents, 2025Q2-2026Q1 | 0.0 | 1.9 | 0.8 |
| Percentage of long-stay residents with a urinary tract infection Long Stay residents, 2025Q2-2026Q1 | 1.2 | 2.6 | 1.6 |
| Percentage of long-stay residents experiencing one or more falls with major injury Long Stay residents, 2025Q2-2026Q1 | 0.0 | 4.0 | 3.2 |
| Percentage of long-stay residents with pressure ulcers Long Stay residents, 2025Q2-2026Q1 | 8.1 | 5.2 | 4.6 |
| Percentage of long-stay residents who received an antipsychotic medication Long Stay residents, 2025Q2-2026Q1 | 18.8 | 17.1 | 15.4 |
Owners and operators
Legal business name: DEER RIVER HEALTHCARE CENTER INC. CMS links this home to Essentia Health, a group of 6 nursing homes averaging 4.3 stars overall.
| Name | Role | Type | Share | Since |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Essentia Health | 5% or greater direct ownership interest | Organization | 100% | 03/01/2025 |
| Aronson Norr, Nancy | Corporate director | Individual | 01/01/2025 | |
| Bachand, Adam | Corporate director | Individual | 01/01/2025 | |
| Bergstrom, Amy | Corporate director | Individual | 01/01/2024 | |
| Duininck, Troy | Corporate director | Individual | 01/01/2023 | |
| Jamar, Thomas | Corporate director | Individual | 01/01/2023 | |
| Loban, George | Corporate director | Individual | 01/01/2024 | |
| Lund, Jared | Corporate director | Individual | 01/01/2024 | |
| Smith, Bruce | Corporate director | Individual | 01/01/2026 | |
| Terch, Justin | Corporate director | Individual | 10/22/2025 | |
| Urbanski, Rebecca | Corporate director | Individual | 01/01/2025 | |
| Watters, Michael | Corporate director | Individual | 07/01/2023 | |
| Yung, Anthony | Corporate director | Individual | 01/01/2023 | |
| Boren, Kevin | Corporate officer | Individual | 04/04/2022 | |
| Sertich, Anthony | Corporate officer | Individual | 01/01/2021 | |
| Skorupa, Krista | Corporate officer | Individual | 05/06/2024 | |
| St. Marys Duluth Clinic Health System | Operational/managerial control | Organization | 09/01/2012 | |
| Meyer, Deborah | Operational/managerial control | Individual | 07/22/2019 | |
| Essentia Health | Adp of the SNF | Organization | 05/12/2025 | |
| St. Marys Duluth Clinic Health System | Adp of the SNF | Organization | 05/12/2025 | |
| Boren, Kevin | Adp of the SNF | Individual | 04/04/2022 | |
| Lund, Jared | Adp of the SNF | Individual | 01/01/2024 | |
| Meyer, Deborah | Adp of the SNF | Individual | 07/22/2019 |
As listed in the CMS ownership file, which names owners with a 5% or greater stake and the people and companies with operational or managerial control.
Questions to ask on a visit
Chosen from this home's own inspection record.
- How do you prevent falls and pressure injuries, and how are families told when one happens?Inspectors cited 3 problems in this area, most recently on May 18, 2026: "Ensure that a nursing home area is free from accident hazards and provides adequate supervision to prevent accidents."
- How are medications reviewed, and how often are antipsychotic or sedating drugs used?Inspectors cited 3 problems in this area, most recently on March 12, 2025: "Implement gradual dose reductions(GDR) and non-pharmacological interventions, unless contraindicated, prior to initiating or instead of continuing psychotropic medication; and PRN orders for psychotropic medications are only used when the medication is necessary and PRN use is limited."
- What changed in infection control since the last inspection, and who on staff is the infection preventionist?Inspectors cited 2 problems in this area, most recently on April 22, 2026: "Provide and implement an infection prevention and control program."
- How many nurses and aides work each shift, nights and weekends included?Inspectors cited 2 problems in this area, most recently on December 17, 2025: "Ensure that nurses and nurse aides have the appropriate competencies to care for every resident in a way that maximizes each resident's well being."
Other nursing homes nearby
- Grand Village Grand Rapids, 12.7 mi · 5 of 5 stars · 18 citations
- The Emeralds at Grand Rapids LLC Grand Rapids, 15.6 mi · 1 of 5 stars · 50 citations
Minnesota contacts for a concern about a nursing home
These are the official offices in Minnesota. NursingHomeClear cannot take or act on complaints.
- Inspections and complaints: Minnesota Department of Health, Health Regulation Division, the state agency that inspects nursing homes for CMS and takes complaints about care.
- State inspection reports: MDH Nursing and Boarding Care Home Survey and Complaint Inspection Findings, where Minnesota publishes its own records on licensed homes.
Common questions
- What is Essentia Health Homestead's Medicare star rating?
- CMS rates Essentia Health Homestead 2 out of 5 stars overall, with 1 for health inspections, 5 for staffing and 4 for quality measures (CMS data as of September 1, 2026).
- How many deficiencies did Essentia Health Homestead get at its last inspection?
- 1 health deficiency at the standard inspection on April 22, 2026. The Minnesota average is 7.1.
- Has Essentia Health Homestead been fined?
- Yes. CMS lists 2 fines totaling $67,727 in the last three years.
- Does Essentia Health Homestead accept Medicaid?
- It is certified to take Medicaid (CMS lists it as "Medicare and Medicaid"). Certification does not mean a Medicaid bed is open: ask the admissions office.
- Who owns Essentia Health Homestead?
- CMS lists 23 owners and managers, and links the home to Essentia Health. Legal business name: DEER RIVER HEALTHCARE CENTER INC.
Sources
- Ratings, staffing and fines: CMS Provider Information, released September 30, 2026, data as of September 1, 2026.
- Citations: CMS Health Deficiencies and Fire Safety Deficiencies.
- Owners: CMS Ownership. Penalties: CMS Penalties.
- Staffing by quarter: CMS Payroll Based Journal Daily Nurse Staffing, April 2025 to March 2026, summed by NursingHomeClear.
- Inspector summaries: CMS Full Statement of Deficiencies (CMS-2567 text), data as of September 1, 2026. Each quote is the part of the statement before the detailed findings.
- Inspection reports with the inspectors' full notes are on this home's Medicare.gov page.
- Something wrong on this page? Ask for a correction. We fix errors in our copy of the data; findings themselves can only be changed by CMS and the state.
- NursingHomeClear is independent and not affiliated with CMS, Medicare or any state agency. This page reports federal records; it does not rate, recommend or endorse any home, and it is not medical or legal advice.