Rocky Top Care Center: Filthy Bathtub Violation - TN
The resident, identified only as Resident 77, had been admitted to the facility with difficulty walking, weakness, and lack of coordination. A cognitive assessment showed a score of 7 on the Brief Interview for Mental Status, placing the resident in the range of severe cognitive impairment. The resident could not advocate for themselves.
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See the Derila PillowInspectors first documented the condition on August 12, 2024, at 11:00 in the morning. They returned to the same room two days later, on August 13 at 2:45 in the afternoon. They came back again on August 14 at 1:35 in the afternoon. The bathtub still had not been cleaned. Dead insects remained on the bottom. The dark, dirt-like substance still ringed the drain.
They came back a fourth time on August 20 at 8:20 in the morning. Nothing had changed.
This time, the facility's administrator was present during the observation. According to the inspection report, the administrator looked at the bathtub, with its dead insects and brownish-black grime, and confirmed that it had not been maintained in a sanitary manner and did not represent a clean, homelike environment for the resident.
That was the finding: eight days, four visits, one administrator standing in the room confirming what anyone could see.
The facility's own written policy, dated May 2012, stated that all residents have the right to a dignified existence, with access to a facility environment that is safe, clean, and comfortable. The bathtub in Resident 77's room did not meet that standard on any of the four days inspectors observed it.
Federal inspectors classified the violation as causing minimal harm or potential for actual harm, and noted it affected few residents among the 90 reviewed during the inspection. It was the only deficiency cited in this inspection report.
Rocky Top Care Center sits on Industrial Park Road in Rocky Top, a small city in Campbell County in northeastern Tennessee. The facility had 90 residents under review at the time of the inspection.
The inspection was completed on August 22, 2024.
What the report does not say is how long the bathtub had been in that condition before inspectors arrived on August 12. It does not say whether Resident 77 was ever bathed using that tub during the period it was documented as unclean, or where the resident was bathed instead. It does not say whether any staff member had entered the room, seen the insects and the grime, and said nothing.
What it does say is that a person who could not walk without difficulty, who lacked coordination, who scored in the severe range for cognitive impairment, lived in a room where the bathtub collected dead insects and darkened around the drain across eight documented days, and that the person responsible for running the facility stood in that room and confirmed it.
Resident 77's diagnoses made independent action difficult. Reporting a dirty bathtub, requesting it be cleaned, understanding that the condition was not acceptable, these were not straightforward options for someone with a BIMS score of 7. The facility's policy recognized that residents depend on staff to provide a clean environment precisely because many of them cannot secure it for themselves.
The insects were dead. The drain was dark. The administrator confirmed what the inspectors had already seen three times before.
Full Inspection Report
The details above represent a summary of key findings. View the complete inspection report for Rocky Top Care Center from 2024-08-22 including all violations, facility responses, and corrective action plans.
Additional Resources
Data source: This article is based on inspection data downloaded directly from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) via Medicare.gov. CMS releases inspection reports in bulk; we publish the findings as documented by state surveyors in the official Form CMS-2567 Statement of Deficiencies.
Plan of correction: The CMS report we receive does not include the facility's plan of correction. Facilities submit plans of correction separately to state survey agencies and those responses may not be reflected in CMS data at the time of publication. The absence of a plan of correction in our data does not mean one was not filed. Readers who want information about corrective steps taken are encouraged to contact the facility directly or their state survey agency.
Corrections may have occurred: Inspection reports reflect conditions observed on the date of the survey. Facilities may have implemented corrections, staffing changes, additional training, or other remediation since the report was issued. We report what CMS provides and encourage readers to seek current information from the facility.
Editorial process: Inspection findings are extracted from CMS source documents and synthesized using AI, reviewed for factual accuracy against the original report by our editorial team.
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Last verified: November 14, 2026 · Our methodology
ROCKY TOP CARE CENTER in ROCKY TOP, TN was cited for violations during a health inspection on August 22, 2024.
The resident, identified only as Resident 77, had been admitted to the facility with difficulty walking, weakness, and lack of coordination.
Health inspections identify deficiencies that facilities must correct. Violations range from minor documentation issues to serious safety concerns. Review the full report below for specific details and facility response.