The 10 Worst Nursing Homes in Wisconsin

  Worst Nursing Homes in Wisconsin By City

Every city in Wisconsin has its own set of challenges and standards when it comes to nursing home care. To help you find the information most relevant to your location, we've compiled city-specific rankings of the worst-rated nursing homes. Click on the links below to explore the detailed lists for each city.

Worst Nursing Homes in Milwaukee

• Bradley Estates Nursing and Rehab LLC (681.167)
• Ensure that residents are free from significant medication errors. (2024-12-05)
• Develop the complete care plan within 7 days of the comprehensive assessment; and prepared, reviewed, and revised by a team of health professionals. (2024-12-05)
• Luther Manor (309.333)
• Provide care and assistance to perform activities of daily living for any resident who is unable. (2024-12-03)
• Plan the resident's discharge to meet the resident's goals and needs. (2024-12-03)
• Alexian Village of Milwaukee (285.833)
• Have properly located and lighted "Exit" signs. (2024-12-27)
• Timely report suspected abuse, neglect, or theft and report the results of the investigation to proper authorities. (2024-12-20)
• Waterfall Health of Brown Deer (281.167)
• PASARR screening for Mental disorders or Intellectual Disabilities (2024-12-17)
• Coordinate assessments with the pre-admission screening and resident review program; and referring for services as needed. (2024-12-17)
• St Anne's Salvatorian Campus (254.5)
• Provide enough nursing staff every day to meet the needs of every resident; and have a licensed nurse in charge on each shift. (2024-12-19)
• Provide appropriate care for residents who are continent or incontinent of bowel/bladder, appropriate catheter care, and appropriate care to prevent urinary tract infections. (2024-12-19)
• Wheaton Franciscan Hc - Terrace at St Francis (208)
• Install properly constructed and protected linen or trash chutes. (2024-11-08)
• Provide safe, appropriate pain management for a resident who requires such services. (2024-09-20)
• Autumn Lake Healthcare at Greenfield (196.667)
• Ensure that a nursing home area is free from accident hazards and provides adequate supervision to prevent accidents. (2024-11-05)
• Ensure that a nursing home area is free from accident hazards and provides adequate supervision to prevent accidents. (2024-11-05)
• Maple Ridge Health Services (162.5)
• Honor the resident's right to be treated with respect and dignity and to retain and use personal possessions. (2024-11-18)
• Honor the resident's right to a safe, clean, comfortable and homelike environment, including but not limited to receiving treatment and supports for daily living safely. (2024-11-18)
• Mercy Health Services (139.833)
• Honor the resident's right to a safe, clean, comfortable and homelike environment, including but not limited to receiving treatment and supports for daily living safely. (2024-10-18)
• Respond appropriately to all alleged violations. (2024-10-18)
• Crossroads Care Center of Milwaukee (129.5)
• Provide appropriate treatment and care according to orders, resident?s preferences and goals. (2024-11-29)
• Provide appropriate care for residents who are continent or incontinent of bowel/bladder, appropriate catheter care, and appropriate care to prevent urinary tract infections. (2024-11-29)

Worst Nursing Homes in Madison

• Madison Health and Rehabilitation Center (498.5)
• Ensure that a nursing home area is free from accident hazards and provides adequate supervision to prevent accidents. (2024-12-06)
• Honor the resident's right to be treated with respect and dignity and to retain and use personal possessions. (2024-11-04)
• Ssm Health St Mary's Care Center (201.833)
• Ensure that a nursing home area is free from accident hazards and provides adequate supervision to prevent accidents. (2024-11-23)
• Try different approaches before using a bed rail. If a bed rail is needed, the facility must (1) assess a resident for safety risk; (2) review these risks and benefits with the resident/representative; (3) get informed consent; and (4) Correctly install and maintain the bed rail. (2024-11-23)
• Cardinal Woods Skilled Nursing and Rehab Ctr (138.167)
• Provide appropriate treatment and care according to orders, resident?s preferences and goals. (2025-02-03)
• Give residents notice of Medicaid/Medicare coverage and potential liability for services not covered. (2024-09-30)
• Autumn Lake Healthcare at Madison (128.667)
• Immediately tell the resident, the resident's doctor, and a family member of situations (injury/decline/room, etc.) that affect the resident. (2024-04-15)
• Safeguard resident-identifiable information and/or maintain medical records on each resident that are in accordance with accepted professional standards. (2024-04-15)
• Madison Health Care (109.5)
• Protect each resident from separation (from other residents, his/her room, or confinement to his/her room). (2025-01-07)
• Provide appropriate treatment and care according to orders, resident?s preferences and goals. (2025-01-07)
• Maplecrest Rehab and Living Center (74.667)
• Honor the resident's right to and the facility must promote and facilitate resident self-determination through support of resident choice. (2025-01-07)
• Develop and implement a complete care plan that meets all the resident's needs, with timetables and actions that can be measured. (2025-01-07)
• The Waters of Clifty Falls (66.667)
• Protect each resident from the wrongful use of the resident's belongings or money. (2024-09-19)
• 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. (2024-09-19)
• Jacob's Creek Nursing and Rehabilitation Center (62)
• Provide properly protected cooking facilities. (2025-01-20)
• Ensure that special areas are constructed so that walls can resist fire for one hour or have an approved fire extinguishing system. (2025-01-20)
• Capitol Lakes Health Center (58)
• Provide appropriate treatment and care according to orders, resident?s preferences and goals. (2024-12-06)
• Provide appropriate foot care. (2024-12-06)
• Oak Park Nursing and Rehab Ctr (58)
• Have generator or other power source capable of supplying service within 10 seconds. (2024-08-28)
• Ensure that special areas are constructed so that walls can resist fire for one hour or have an approved fire extinguishing system. (2024-08-19)

Worst Nursing Homes in Appleton

• Meadowbrook at Appleton (129.333)
• Ensure that a nursing home area is free from accident hazards and provides adequate supervision to prevent accidents. (2024-11-18)
• Procure food from sources approved or considered satisfactory and store, prepare, distribute and serve food in accordance with professional standards. (2024-07-05)
• Appleton Area Health (43.833)
• Develop and implement a complete care plan that meets all the resident's needs, with timetables and actions that can be measured. (2023-12-29)
• Try different approaches before using a bed rail. If a bed rail is needed, the facility must (1) assess a resident for safety risk; (2) review these risks and benefits with the resident/representative; (3) get informed consent; and (4) Correctly install and maintain the bed rail. (2023-12-29)
• Peabody Manor (41.333)
• Inspect, test, and maintain automatic sprinkler systems. (2025-01-22)
• Notify the resident or the resident?s representative in writing how long the nursing home will hold the resident?s bed in cases of transfer to a hospital or therapeutic leave. (2025-01-15)
• Edenbrook of Appleton North (22)
• Post nurse staffing information every day. (2025-01-13)
• Meet requirements for the installation and maintenance of electrical systems. (2024-09-05)
• Brewster Village (21.333)
• Develop and implement policies and procedures for flu and pneumonia vaccinations. (2025-02-07)
• Ensure that residents are fully informed and understand their health status, care and treatments. (2025-02-03)
• Rennes Health and Rehab Center- Appleton (13.333)
• Reasonably accommodate the needs and preferences of each resident. (2025-01-31)
• Reasonably accommodate the needs and preferences of each resident. (2024-06-26)

Worst Nursing Homes in Green Bay

• Ccc of West Green Bay (155)
• Provide appropriate care for residents who are continent or incontinent of bowel/bladder, appropriate catheter care, and appropriate care to prevent urinary tract infections. (2024-12-24)
• Provide and implement an infection prevention and control program. (2024-12-24)
• Odd Fellow Home (113.333)
• Develop the complete care plan within 7 days of the comprehensive assessment; and prepared, reviewed, and revised by a team of health professionals. (2025-02-09)
• Ensure that a nursing home area is free from accident hazards and provides adequate supervision to prevent accidents. (2025-02-09)
• Edenbrook of Green Bay (40.667)
• Ensure that a nursing home area is free from accident hazards and provides adequate supervision to prevent accidents. (2024-08-16)
• Allow residents to self-administer drugs if determined clinically appropriate. (2024-08-16)
• Green Bay Health Services (32.667)
• Develop and implement policies and procedures to prevent abuse, neglect, and theft. (2024-12-03)
• Provide properly protected cooking facilities. (2024-06-27)
• Brown Cty Comm Treatment Ctr-Bayshore Village (22)
• Inspect, test, and maintain automatic sprinkler systems. (2025-01-11)
• Ensure that special areas are constructed so that walls can resist fire for one hour or have an approved fire extinguishing system. (2025-01-11)
• Grancare Nursing Center (20.667)
• Timely report suspected abuse, neglect, or theft and report the results of the investigation to proper authorities. (2024-11-28)
• Use approved construction type or materials. (2024-10-25)
• Woodside Lutheran Home (8)
• Have restrictions on the use of highly flammable decorations. (2024-08-19)
• Provide a written emergency evacuation plan. (2024-08-19)

Worst Nursing Homes in Racine

• Lincoln Park Nursing and Rehab LLC (108)
• Employ sufficient staff with the appropriate competencies and skills sets to carry out the functions of the food and nutrition service, including a qualified dietician. (2024-12-23)
• Allow residents to self-administer drugs if determined clinically appropriate. (2024-12-06)
• Ridgewood Care Ctr (60)
• Give residents notice of Medicaid/Medicare coverage and potential liability for services not covered. (2024-12-26)
• Honor the resident's right to and the facility must promote and facilitate resident self-determination through support of resident choice. (2024-11-22)
• Ascension Living - Lakeshore at Siena (54)
• Install a fire alarm system that can be heard throughout the facility. (2024-11-14)
• Honor the resident's right to receive visitors of his or her choosing, at the time of his or her choosing. (2024-11-01)

  Related Lists and Resources

While it's important to be aware of the lowest-rated facilities, we also provide resources to help you find the best care available. Check out our other lists to find top-rated nursing homes and facilities that excel in specific areas.

• Best Nursing Homes in Wisconsin
• Analysis of Nursing Homes in Wisconsin

  Making Informed Decisions

Understanding our rankings and how they are derived can empower you to make better choices for your loved ones. Remember, a low rating in one area doesn't necessarily mean a facility is entirely unsuitable; it's a starting point for further investigation.

  Tips for Evaluating Nursing Homes in Wisconsin:

• Schedule visits to potential facilities
• Speak with staff and residents
• Review recent inspection reports
• Consider the specific needs of your loved one

Disclaimer: NursingHomeDatabase.com does not have a relationship, either commercial or otherwise, with any of the skilled nursing facilities referred to on this site. This is an independent resource that tries to make more and better information available to the public.

  More Resources for Families

Navigating the world of nursing home care can be overwhelming. Here are some resources to help you make the best decisions for your family:

• The Role of Family in Nursing Home Care
• Navigating Medicaid for Nursing Home Care
• How to Handle a Nursing Home Discharge
• Understanding Nursing Home Ratings and What They Mean
• Questions to Ask During a Nursing Home Visit

  How We Compile Nursing Home Ratings in Wisconsin

Every month, we rank all of the skilled nursing facilities in Wisconsin. These rankings are based on data provided by The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid measures ("CMS"), including the CMS 5-Star Rating System and the Health Inspection Scores. The list of the Worst Skilled Nursing Facilities in Wisconsin is based on the weighted overall health inspection score which is a composite of CMS's three most recent skilled nursing home inspection scores weighted to give the most recent inspection more importance.

The CMS 5-Star Rating System rates skilled nursing facilities from one to five stars, with one star being the lowest and five stars being the highest. The rating system also rates Wisconsin nursing homes across five different dimensions including overall rating, health inspection rating, quality measures rating, overall staffing rating, and RN staffing rating (RN is an acronym for Registered Nurse).

In addition to the 5-Star Rating System, CMS provides numerical metrics that summarize:

• Health Inspection Domain. The health inspection rating is based on the three most recent standard surveys for each nursing home, results from any complaint investigations during the most recent three-year period, and any repeat revisits needed to verify that required corrections have brought the facility back into compliance. CMS calculates a weighted deficiency score based on points assigned to health deficiencies identified in each active provider’s current health inspection survey and the two prior surveys (including revisits), as well as deficiency findings from the most recent three years of complaint investigations. More recent surveys are weighted more heavily than older surveys: the most recent period (cycle 1) is assigned a weighting factor of 1/2, the previous period (cycle 2) has a weighting factor of 1/3, and the second prior survey (cycle 3) has a weighting factor of 1/6. The weighted time period scores are then summed to create the survey score for each facility.
• Staffing Domain. Using multiple reporting methods, CMS calculates the amount of time that the nursing staff spends with residents. This is measured across multiple dimensions, one each for three different levels of nursing, including Registered Nurses (“RNs”), Licensed Practical Nurses (“LPNs”), and Certified Nursing Assistants (“CNAs”), plus one metric that totals all contributions. These metrics are expressed in hours per resident per day. CMS also provides state-level and national averages for the metrics to allow for additional comparisons.
• Quality Measures Domain. A set of quality measures (QMs) has been developed from MDS-based indicators to describe the quality of care provided in nursing homes. These measures address a broad range of functioning and health status in multiple care areas. The facility rating for the QM domain is based on performance on a subset of 11 (out of 18) of the QMs. Ratings for the QM domain are calculated using the three most recent quarters for which data are available. This time period specification was selected to increase the number of assessments available for calculating the QM rating, increasing the stability of estimates and reducing the number of facilities that do not have enough data to report QM ratings.
• Abuse Flag. Abuse is always a concern in skilled nursing facilities. To highlight the issue, CMS has extracted this feature as its own flag. Facilities with an actual abuse event or where the potential for abuse has been shown for the past two years are flagged. The Health Inspection Score is capped at 2-stars for nursing homes that have been flagged for abuse.

Skilled nursing facilities that are new and do not have at least two surveys completed are not rated by CMS. These facilities may have health inspection scores that can be used to evaluate the facility.

One complication in Wisconsin nursing home inspections is the COVID-19 pandemic. Although inspections should be performed every 12 months, COVID has decreased this frequency. While CMS admits that only in “rare cases” do these inspections increase to 15 months, our analysis suggests that this time frame may be even longer. This report shows that the time between inspections is now just under 500 days (more than sixteen months). There are now hundreds of skilled nursing homes in the United States that have not been inspected in more than 24 months. This list shows the skilled nursing homes with the longest period since being inspected. According to the CMS data, these homes have not been inspected since 2018!