Ridgeview Health Services: Portion Failures at Dinner - AL
The facility's menu for that Wednesday called for size-eight scoops, which hold a half-cup of food. The scoops sitting in the pans of pureed cheeseburger soup, pureed carrots, and fortified mashed potatoes were size-sixteen scoops, which hold a quarter-cup. Every resident who had gone through the trayline by the time the error was caught received half the intended portion of each item.
That was three residents. Eight pureed diet trays were still waiting to be served when an inspector flagged the scoop sizes at 5:30 p.m.
The Nutrition Department Director checked the menu, confirmed the scoops were wrong, and told staff to swap them out. The correction happened. But the question of how the undersized scoops got there in the first place went unanswered.
The Relief Cook In-Training, interviewed at 6:26 p.m. that evening, said the blue-handled scoops were already sitting in the food pans when the trayline started. He said he did not know who put them there. The Nutrition Manager, interviewed four minutes later, said she did not know either. She said the regular evening cook had been helping earlier but had left before service began.
The next morning, the Nutrition Manager was more specific about what the mistake actually meant for residents. A size-sixteen scoop instead of a size-eight scoop meant residents were not getting enough food. She said it could result in weight loss if it continued over time. The Nutrition Department Director, interviewed immediately after, said the same thing in plainer terms: it was not enough food, it was an inadequate serving, and prolonged underportion could cause residents to lose weight.
The residents affected were already on pureed diets, a texture modification that nursing home residents typically require because of difficulty chewing or swallowing. The meal in question included pureed cheeseburger soup, which the menu called for serving with two full scoops per resident, plus pureed carrots substituted for a creamy tomato and onion salad, plus fortified mashed potatoes prepared with butter and sour cream specifically to increase caloric intake. The fortification was deliberate. The underportion worked against it.
The facility's own portioning document lists the two scoop sizes clearly: the size-sixteen scoop, with a blue handle, holds a quarter-cup. The size-eight scoop, with a grey handle, holds a half-cup. Both documents were available. The menu specified which to use. The wrong ones were in the pans anyway.
Inspectors classified the violation as causing minimal harm or potential for actual harm, affecting a few residents. The finding was cited under the federal requirement that meals be served in adequate amounts to meet residents' nutritional needs.
What the inspection record does not contain is any explanation for how the blue-handled scoops ended up in those food pans, or whether anyone was responsible for verifying scoop sizes before service began. The regular evening cook had left. The relief cook in training did not know. The Nutrition Manager did not know. The Nutrition Department Director did not say.
Three residents finished their dinners before anyone checked.
Full Inspection Report
The details above represent a summary of key findings. View the complete inspection report for Ridgeview Health Services, Inc from 2025-08-08 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.
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Last verified: November 3, 2026 · Our methodology
RIDGEVIEW HEALTH SERVICES, INC in JASPER, AL was cited for violations during a health inspection on August 8, 2025.
The facility's menu for that Wednesday called for size-eight scoops, which hold a half-cup of food.
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.