Embassy of Hearthside: Food Storage Violations - PA
The dietary manager, identified in the inspection report as Employee 1, was present during the walkthrough. What inspectors documented alongside her stretched across every section of the kitchen.
In the dry storage area, a bag of elbow macaroni and an opened bag of egg noodles sat with no open or use-by dates marked on either. On the bread racks, inspectors counted six packs of English muffins, three loaves of bread, two packs of sandwich rolls, and one pack of hotdog rolls. None of them had received dates. None had use-by dates.
The problems extended into the cold storage. In the walk-in freezer, a box of mixed vegetables had no open or use-by date. The vegetables were not covered or sealed. In the walk-in refrigerator, boxes of mushrooms, lemons, and oranges sat open to the air, also without dates, also not covered or sealed. In a reach-in cooler, an opened container of grape jelly and a container of strawberry juice had no dates of any kind.
The production area, where kitchen staff prepare meals for residents, held the longest list. An opened box of thick and easy, a bag of flour, a container of peanut butter, a container of quick oats, a box of cream of rice, a box of potato pearls, and a container the dietary manager identified as Cream of Wheat. All of them opened. None of them dated.
Thick and easy is a food thickener used for residents who have difficulty swallowing. It is not a shelf staple someone grabs once and discards. It is used repeatedly, portioned out at each meal, returned to storage. Without an open date, there is no way to track how long it has been in use or whether it should still be in service.
The inspection was a complaint investigation. Someone prompted this visit.
Inspectors reviewed their findings with the Nursing Home Administrator and the Director of Nursing at 3:04 that afternoon. The report does not describe either administrator's response.
The violation is tagged F0812, covering the requirement that facilities procure, store, prepare, distribute, and serve food according to professional standards for food service. Embassy of Hearthside had been cited under the same standard on March 14, 2025, just five months before inspectors returned and found the kitchen in the same condition.
A repeat citation matters for a reason that goes beyond paperwork. When a facility is cited, corrects the problem on paper, and then reverts, it tells inspectors and residents' families something specific: the correction did not hold. Whatever was changed in March, whether a policy was written, a staff meeting was held, a labeling system was introduced, it did not produce a kitchen where food is consistently dated and covered by late August.
The residents eating meals prepared in this kitchen are nursing home residents. Some have compromised immune systems. Some are elderly and more vulnerable to foodborne illness than a healthy adult would be. The inspection report classifies the level of harm as minimal harm or potential for actual harm, and notes that many residents are affected. That language reflects the scope of the kitchen operation, not a finding that anyone became sick. But the conditions that allow spoiled or contaminated food to reach a resident's tray are exactly the conditions inspectors documented here: no dates, no coverage, no way for staff to make an informed decision about what is safe to serve.
A box of mixed vegetables in a freezer, uncovered and undated. A container of peanut butter in the production area with no record of when it was opened. Six packs of English muffins on a bread rack with nothing written on them.
These are not difficult things to track. A marker and a date take seconds. The facility knew this was a problem in March. Inspectors found the same kitchen in August.
Full Inspection Report
The details above represent a summary of key findings. View the complete inspection report for Embassy of Hearthside from 2025-08-25 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.
Professional review: All content reviewed by Christopher F. Nesbitt, Sr., NH EMT & BU-trained Paralegal.
Last verified: October 5, 2026 · Our methodology
EMBASSY OF HEARTHSIDE in STATE COLLEGE, PA was cited for violations during a health inspection on August 25, 2025.
The dietary manager, identified in the inspection report as Employee 1, was present during the walkthrough.
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.