Nursing home
Bethany Life
212 Lafayette Street, Story City, IA 50248 · Map
Non profit - Church related · 126 certified beds
Bethany Life is a Medicare-certified nursing home in Story City, Iowa. CMS rates it 1 out of 5 stars overall (4/5 for staffing, 1/5 for health inspections). Nurse staffing is 3.88 hours per resident per day, above the Iowa average of 3.83. Its most recent inspection on Feb 13, 2025 cited 7 deficiencies. Note: it carries a CMS abuse icon.
- CMS abuse iconThis facility has an active abuse icon on its CMS record.
- 1 fine totaling $41,701In CMS records: 2 total penalties, 1 Medicare payment denial.
CMS quality ratings
Ratings from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), updated monthly. 5 stars is the highest quality.
How Bethany Life compares
This facility vs. the Iowa and national averages, from CMS data. For staffing, higher is generally better; for turnover and deficiencies, lower is better.
| Metric | This facility | Iowa avg | National avg | Compared with the state |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total nurse staffing (hrs/resident/day) | 3.88 | 3.83 | 3.89 | above avg |
| RN staffing (hrs/resident/day) | 0.62 | 0.73 | 0.68 | below avg |
| Aide staffing (hrs/resident/day) | 2.85 | 2.53 | 2.34 | above avg |
| Nursing staff turnover | 36.6% | 43.9% | 46.4% | below avg |
| Deficiencies cited, last inspection | 7.0 | 6.2 | 9.5 | above avg |
Staffing
Hours per resident per day as reported to CMS. Higher numbers indicate more direct care time.
Staff turnover
Lower turnover typically indicates better working conditions and continuity of care. National average for nursing staff is 46.4%.
Recent health inspection
CMS inspects nursing facilities regularly. Deficiencies are categorized by severity.
- Every deficiency from the March 5, 2026 inspection was corrected by March 24, 2026
Penalties in CMS records: 1 fine totaling $41,701, 2 total penalties, 1 Medicare payment denial.
What inspectors found at Bethany Life
Specific deficiencies cited in recent CMS health inspections, most recent first. Severity follows the CMS scope/severity scale. Source: CMS Care Compare.
- Actual harm
Ensure that a nursing home area is free from accident hazards and provides adequate supervision to prevent accidents.
Quality of Life and Care Deficiencies · Mar 5, 2026 · Full report (PDF) - Potential for harm
Have a plan that describes the process for conducting QAPI and QAA activities.
Administration Deficiencies · Mar 5, 2026 · Full report (PDF) - Potential for harm
Obtain a doctor's order to admit a resident and ensure the resident is under a doctor's care.
Nursing and Physician Services Deficiencies · Mar 5, 2026 · Full report (PDF) - Potential for harm
Provide safe and appropriate respiratory care for a resident when needed.
Quality of Life and Care Deficiencies · Mar 5, 2026 · Full report (PDF) - Potential for harm
Ensure services provided by the nursing facility meet professional standards of quality.
Resident Assessment and Care Planning Deficiencies · Mar 5, 2026 · Full report (PDF)
Show all 12 deficiencies
- Potential for harm
Provide the required documentation or notification related to the resident's needs, appeal rights, or bed-hold policies.
Resident Rights Deficiencies · Mar 5, 2026 · Full report (PDF) - Actual harm
Honor the resident's right to a dignified existence, self-determination, communication, and to exercise his or her rights.
Resident Rights Deficiencies · Feb 13, 2026 · Full report (PDF) - Potential for harm
Safeguard resident-identifiable information and/or maintain medical records on each resident that are in accordance with accepted professional standards.
Resident Assessment and Care Planning Deficiencies · Jan 15, 2026 · Full report (PDF) - Potential for harm
Ensure that residents are free from significant medication errors.
Pharmacy Service Deficiencies · Dec 22, 2025 · Full report (PDF) - Potential for harm
Respond appropriately to all alleged violations.
Freedom from Abuse, Neglect, and Exploitation Deficiencies · Nov 20, 2025 · Full report (PDF) - Potential for harm
Timely report suspected abuse, neglect, or theft and report the results of the investigation to proper authorities.
Freedom from Abuse, Neglect, and Exploitation Deficiencies · Nov 20, 2025 · Full report (PDF) - Potential for harm
Honor the resident's right to a dignified existence, self-determination, communication, and to exercise his or her rights.
Resident Rights Deficiencies · Nov 20, 2025 · Full report (PDF)
Read the full inspection reports on Medicare.gov Each inspection there has a “Read the full report” link with the inspectors’ written findings.
About this facility
- Address
- 212 Lafayette Street
Story City, IA 50248 - CMS certification #
- 165424
- Ownership
- Non profit - Church related
- Certified beds
- 126
- Avg residents/day
- 118.3
- Provider type
- Medicare and Medicaid
- First certified
- 2000-09-01
- Setting
- Urban
Not SLA enrolled. This facility hasn’t enrolled in resident survey verification. Learn about enrollment →
Location and nearby
Explore the area around Bethany Life using Google Maps.
Other public records
- Staff pay 1 federal wage case with violations found, since 2004
Full public records, with dates and sources
Staff pay and workplace safety
Federal records about how the employer here treats its staff.
Federal wage and hour cases
The Department of Labor checks that staff are paid minimum wage and overtime as the law requires.
- Findings for Nov 7, 2004 to Nov 4, 2006. Violations found: Overtime, Child labor. Back wages: $601 owed to 6 employees. Civil money penalties assessed: $1,980. Employer as DOL recorded it: Bethany Manor (Bethany Manor, Inc.). Case 1458628.
Source: U.S. Department of Labor, Wage and Hour Division enforcement data, loaded Oct 15, 2026. Concluded cases only. The dates are the period in which DOL found violations, not when the case opened or closed. Back wages are what the employer agreed to pay; penalties are what DOL assessed. DOL does not publish a page for each case, so search the dataset by case number.
Location and nearby care
- Nearest hospital with an emergency room
- Mary Greeley Medical Center, Ames. 10.4 miles away, straight line. CMS overall hospital rating: 4 of 5 stars.
- Nearest Medicare nursing home
- Accura Healthcare of Ames, LLC, Ames. 8.8 miles away, straight line.
- Nearest home health agency office
- Mary Greeley Home Health Services, Ames. 10.4 miles away, straight line. Agencies travel to clients, so ask which ones serve this address.
- Nearest pharmacy
- Walgreens. 9.3 miles away, straight line. From OpenStreetMap, which does not list every pharmacy, so one may be closer.
- Area
- USDA classes ZIP code 50248 as rural (rural area).
- Dialysis within 15 miles
- Davita Ames Mary Greeley Dialysis, Ames, 10.2 miles away, straight line (CMS rating 5 of 5 stars)
- Hospice
- 6 Medicare hospices tell CMS they serve ZIP code 50248.
Mary Greeley Hospice Services, office in Ames, 10.4 miles away, straight line (CMS family survey rating 4 of 5 stars) - Nearest geriatric medicine practice
- Joseph Hoagbin, MD, Marshalltown. 34.9 miles away, straight line. 1 geriatric medicine doctor listed there.
Distances are straight lines from the community, not driving distance. Hospitals, home health, dialysis, hospice and doctors come from CMS provider data (CMS, hospital list updated Jul 22, 2026). Star ratings are CMS’s own.
Emergency and natural hazard risk
Public hazard maps for this location. Ask the community about its emergency plan, its generator and where residents would go in an evacuation.
- Flood zone
- Outside the high and moderate risk flood areas on FEMA's flood map (Zone X, minimal flood hazard, or not studied). (FEMA flood map)
- FEMA National Risk Index
- Overall: relatively moderate. By hazard: hurricane very low, inland flooding relatively high, wildfire very low, tornado very high, heat wave very low, earthquake very low. These are FEMA’s ratings for the census tract, compared with tracts nationwide. (FEMA, December 2025)
A flood zone describes the map at this point, not the building's elevation. In an emergency, follow the local emergency management agency.
What we checked
Every public source we searched for this community. “Nothing on record” means we found no record that matched it. A record can be missed when a name or address differs.
| Source | Data as of | What we found |
|---|---|---|
| U.S. Department of Labor wage and hour cases | Oct 15, 2026 | See above |
| OSHA workplace safety inspections since 2016 | Oct 15, 2026 | Nothing on record |
| FEMA flood map | See above | |
| USDA wildfire risk | Apr 15, 2026 | Not shown: FEMA rates wildfire risk here very low |
| FEMA National Risk Index | See above | |
| CMS hospitals, home health, dialysis, hospice and doctors; OpenStreetMap pharmacies | See above | |
| HUD Multifamily Properties - Assisted | Jul 6, 2026 | Nothing on record |
| State Veterans Homes (NASVH directory) | Sep 20, 2026 | Nothing on record |
| CMS Hospice - General Information | Aug 19, 2026 | Nothing on record |
| CMS Home Health Care Agencies | May 27, 2026 | Nothing on record |
| The community’s own website | Could not read the site |
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Frequently asked questions
Is Bethany Life a good nursing home?
CMS gives Bethany Life an overall rating of 1 out of 5 stars, including 4/5 for staffing and 1/5 for health inspections. These ratings come from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services and are updated monthly.
How is Bethany Life staffed?
Bethany Life reports 3.88 total nurse hours per resident per day, compared with the Iowa average of 3.83.
Has Bethany Life had inspection problems?
Its most recent CMS inspection cited 7 deficiencies.
How many beds does Bethany Life have?
Bethany Life is certified for 126 beds.