New London Sub-Acute: Food Safety Violations - CT
There was no thermometer in the room.
Inspectors documented the finding on March 21, 2025, during a federal health inspection of the Waterford facility. The nursing assistant, identified in the report as NA #4, described her routine to inspectors that morning. When she delivered meal trays, she asked residents if they wanted anything reheated. If they did, she carried the tray to the nourishment room, put the food in the microwave for about 30 seconds, and then hovered her hand above the dish to gauge the warmth before deciding whether to heat it longer.
She had no other way to check. Inspectors looked around the nourishment room and found no thermometer anywhere in it.
The facility's own reheating policy required food to reach 165 degrees Fahrenheit and be held there for at least 15 seconds, with the temperature confirmed using a thermometer to check the internal temperature of the food. The policy also specified that microwave-reheated food should be covered, stirred, and allowed to stand to ensure even heating before it was served.
None of that was happening.
When inspectors spoke with the Food Service Director at 11:47 that morning, she confirmed that nursing staff were permitted to reheat food and that the standard was 165 degrees, verified by the thermometer in the nourishment room. Inspectors then told her there was no thermometer in the nourishment room. The report does not indicate she disputed that.
The concern with improperly reheated food in a nursing home is not abstract. Residents in long-term care facilities are among the most vulnerable to foodborne illness. Bacteria that survive inadequate reheating, including Listeria, Salmonella, and Clostridium perfringens, can cause severe gastrointestinal illness, bloodstream infections, and death in elderly or immunocompromised people. The hand-over-the-plate method NA #4 was using cannot detect whether food has reached a safe internal temperature. A dish can feel warm on the surface and still be dangerously cold in the center.
The deficiency was cited at a level of minimal harm or potential for actual harm, and inspectors noted that some residents were affected.
The facility's plan of correction, included in the inspection record, indicated that a designated employee would be assigned to monitor products within the department and that the Food Service Director would oversee the process going forward. It did not specify when a thermometer would be placed in the nourishment room or how the facility intended to ensure nursing staff reheating food on the floor had access to one.
What the report captures is a gap between what the policy said and what was actually happening in the room where residents' food was being prepared. The policy existed. The thermometer required to carry it out did not. A nursing assistant, apparently unaware that anything was wrong with her method, had been placing the back of her hand above plates of food and making her best guess.
For the residents who asked to have their meals reheated, that guess was the only check standing between them and food that may never have reached a safe temperature.
Full Inspection Report
The details above represent a summary of key findings. View the complete inspection report for New London Sub-acute and Nursing from 2025-03-27 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 3, 2026 · Our methodology
NEW LONDON SUB-ACUTE AND NURSING in WATERFORD, CT was cited for violations during a health inspection on March 27, 2025.
There was no thermometer in the room.
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.