Across the 391 Medicare-certified nursing homes in Iowa, the average facility carries 14.5 total health-inspection deficiencies on its most recent CMS standard survey, compared with a national average of 9.5. A "deficiency" is a specific F-tag citation written by state surveyors during the annual federal inspection under 42 CFR §483, each citation maps to a scope-and-severity grid (A through L) that determines whether it is an isolated low-harm issue or a widespread immediate-jeopardy finding. The Iowa state-level average reflects the sum of all F-tag citations divided by the number of facilities; it does not distinguish between low-severity paperwork findings and high-severity resident-harm citations, which is why drilling into any facility's full survey report matters more than the headline count. According to CMS Nursing Home Care Compare and the National Provider Identifier Registry, covering more than 14,000 Medicare- and Medicaid-certified nursing homes with over 1 million certified beds and Five-Star Quality Ratings issued since December 2008 you can search and compare here, every figure traces to its source in our methodology.

The table below ranks up to the top 100 Iowa facilities by total deficiency count (highest first) - the goal is transparency, not a blacklist. Facilities appear with their deficiency total, complaint-based deficiencies (citations triggered by a formal complaint rather than the routine survey), fine dollar amounts, and CMS Health Inspection component rating. A high count can reflect a facility with genuine quality problems, a more aggressive state survey team, a larger bed count with more opportunities for citation, or a complaint spike in a single cycle, context matters. Conversely, a low count does not guarantee good care; facilities rarely surveyed, or recently surveyed with a favorable cycle, can look clean while problems accumulate between inspections. The state's benchmark of 14.5 deficiencies and the national benchmark of 9.5 (average score 73) are starting reference points.

Deficiencies are based on CMS Rating Cycle 1 (the most recent completed standard survey); prior cycles appear on each facility's detail page. Important: PlainDoctor presents CMS deficiency data exactly as published at data.cms.gov - we do not aggregate, re-rank, or editorialize. This table is a research tool, not medical advice, a consumer rating, or a legal conclusion about any facility. Selecting a nursing home for yourself or a loved one should include in-person visits, reading the underlying F-tag narratives in the full CMS-2567 survey reports, interviewing staff and current residents' families, and consulting licensed clinicians, hospital discharge planners, and elder-law advisors familiar with Iowa long-term care regulations.