Nursing home
Sarah Ann Hester Memorial Home
407 Dakota Street, Benkelman, NE 69021 · Map
Non profit - Corporation · 56 certified beds
Sarah Ann Hester Memorial Home is a Medicare-certified nursing home in Benkelman, Nebraska. CMS rates it 1 out of 5 stars overall (4/5 for staffing, 2/5 for health inspections). Nurse staffing is 4.35 hours per resident per day, above the Nebraska average of 4.17. Its most recent inspection on Jan 15, 2025 cited 9 deficiencies.
CMS quality ratings
Ratings from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), updated monthly. 5 stars is the highest quality.
How Sarah Ann Hester Memorial Home compares
This facility vs. the Nebraska and national averages, from CMS data. For staffing, higher is generally better; for turnover and deficiencies, lower is better.
| Metric | This facility | Nebraska avg | National avg | Compared with the state |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total nurse staffing (hrs/resident/day) | 4.35 | 4.17 | 3.89 | above avg |
| RN staffing (hrs/resident/day) | 0.43 | 0.71 | 0.68 | below avg |
| Aide staffing (hrs/resident/day) | 2.80 | 2.76 | 2.34 | above avg |
| Nursing staff turnover | 44.7% | 49.3% | 46.4% | below avg |
| Deficiencies cited, last inspection | 9.0 | 6.7 | 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.
What inspectors found at Sarah Ann Hester Memorial Home
Specific deficiencies cited in recent CMS health inspections, most recent first. Severity follows the CMS scope/severity scale. Source: CMS Care Compare.
- Potential for harm
Develop the complete care plan within 7 days of the comprehensive assessment; and prepared, reviewed, and revised by a team of health professionals.
Resident Assessment and Care Planning Deficiencies · Apr 3, 2025 · Full report (PDF) - Potential for harm
Procure food from sources approved or considered satisfactory and store, prepare, distribute and serve food in accordance with professional standards.
Nutrition and Dietary Deficiencies · Jan 15, 2025 · Full report (PDF) - Potential for harm
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.
Pharmacy Service Deficiencies · Jan 15, 2025 · Full report (PDF) - Potential for harm
Ensure each resident’s drug regimen must be free from unnecessary drugs.
Pharmacy Service Deficiencies · Jan 15, 2025 · Full report (PDF) - Potential for harm
Ensure nurse aides have the skills they need to care for residents, and give nurse aides education in dementia care and abuse prevention.
Nursing and Physician Services Deficiencies · Jan 15, 2025 · Full report (PDF)
Show all 12 deficiencies
- Potential for harm
Develop and implement a complete care plan that meets all the resident's needs, with timetables and actions that can be measured.
Resident Assessment and Care Planning Deficiencies · Jan 15, 2025 · Full report (PDF) - Potential for harm
Provide and implement an infection prevention and control program.
Infection Control Deficiencies · Jan 15, 2025 · Full report (PDF) - Potential for harm
Ensure that each resident is free from the use of physical restraints, unless needed for medical treatment.
Freedom from Abuse, Neglect, and Exploitation Deficiencies · Jan 15, 2025 · Full report (PDF) - Minimal
Verify that a nurse aide has been trained; and if they haven't worked as a nurse aide for 2 years, receive retraining.
Nursing and Physician Services Deficiencies · Jan 15, 2025 · Full report (PDF) - Potential for harm
Provide and implement an infection prevention and control program.
Infection Control Deficiencies · Nov 30, 2023 · Full report (PDF) - Potential for harm
Procure food from sources approved or considered satisfactory and store, prepare, distribute and serve food in accordance with professional standards.
Nutrition and Dietary Deficiencies · Nov 30, 2023 · Full report (PDF) - Potential for 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 · Nov 30, 2023 · 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
- 407 Dakota Street
Benkelman, NE 69021 - CMS certification #
- 285241
- Ownership
- Non profit - Corporation
- Certified beds
- 56
- Avg residents/day
- 31.5
- Provider type
- Medicare and Medicaid
- First certified
- 2001-11-01
- Setting
- Rural
Not SLA enrolled. This facility hasn’t enrolled in resident survey verification. Learn about enrollment →
Location and nearby
Explore the area around Sarah Ann Hester Memorial Home using Google Maps.
Other public records
- Staff pay 1 federal wage case with violations found, since 2004
Full public records, with dates and sources
Care and services
From the community’s website
What Sarah Ann Hester Memorial Home says about itself, quoted from its own site. We have not checked these claims against licensing records. Ask about each one on a tour.
- Apartment types named: private room.
Private rooms are provided for all clients.
(page, checked Oct 12, 2026)
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 Jun 29, 2004 to Jul 6, 2006. Violations found: Overtime, Child labor. Back wages: $98 owed to 2 employees. Employer as DOL recorded it: Sarah Ann Hester Memorial Home. Case 1445853.
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
- Dundy County Hospital, Benkelman. 0.3 miles away, straight line.
- Nearest Medicare nursing home
- Cheyenne County Village INC, St Francis. 23.8 miles away, straight line.
- Nearest home health agency office
- Good Samaritan Society Northwest Kansas Home Care, St Francis. 32.8 miles away, straight line. Agencies travel to clients, so ask which ones serve this address.
- Nearest pharmacy
- Krien Pharmacy. 23.5 miles away, straight line. From OpenStreetMap, which does not list every pharmacy, so one may be closer.
- Area
- USDA classes ZIP code 69021 as rural (rural area).
- Hospice
- 2 Medicare hospices tell CMS they serve ZIP code 69021.
- Nearest geriatric medicine practice
- Select Physical Therapy Of West Denver Limited Partnership, Commerce City. 174.5 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: inland flooding relatively low, wildfire relatively low, tornado relatively 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 relatively 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 | See above |
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Frequently asked questions
Is Sarah Ann Hester Memorial Home a good nursing home?
CMS gives Sarah Ann Hester Memorial Home an overall rating of 1 out of 5 stars, including 4/5 for staffing and 2/5 for health inspections. These ratings come from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services and are updated monthly.
How is Sarah Ann Hester Memorial Home staffed?
Sarah Ann Hester Memorial Home reports 4.35 total nurse hours per resident per day, compared with the Nebraska average of 4.17.
Has Sarah Ann Hester Memorial Home had inspection problems?
Its most recent CMS inspection cited 9 deficiencies.
How many beds does Sarah Ann Hester Memorial Home have?
Sarah Ann Hester Memorial Home is certified for 56 beds.