Laurels Peak Care & Rehab: Exposed Heater Hazards - MN
That is what inspectors documented at Laurels Peak Care & Rehabilitation Center following a complaint inspection completed September 11, 2025.
In at least seven resident rooms — R5, R14, R25, R29, R34, R49, and R77 — baseboard heater covers were detached, loose, or missing entirely, leaving heating elements and sharp metal edges exposed where residents live, sleep, and move through their days. The regional director of operations was standing alongside inspectors when they walked those rooms on September 9 and saw the conditions himself.
The problem was not new. It had been raised at the resident council meeting on August 1, 2025. Before that, a work order had been submitted in June 2025 after a cover came off the heater in room R5. The maintenance director, identified in the report as MD-A, said he could not fully remember the details of that work order but assumed the issue had been resolved because the order had been closed. He acknowledged learning about the concerns again when they surfaced at the August resident council meeting, and said he became aware of them on September 8.
The day after learning about them, he walked the rooms.
"Residents or staff, could get cut, on the exposed areas," MD-A told inspectors, describing what he found during his own walkthrough. He recognized the hazard. He did not repair or replace the covers.
The regional director of operations told inspectors on September 9 that he had reviewed the concerns from the August resident council meeting, that the maintenance director had told him all the furnace covers were fixed, and that he had not checked himself. He said he expected the covers were fixed and securely attached in all resident rooms. Minutes later, walking those rooms with inspectors, he saw they were not.
A housekeeper who spoke with inspectors was direct about how the system worked in practice. The covers falling off was a known issue, she said. When the maintenance director was made aware, he would say he would "put it on the list." There was no written list. MD-A told inspectors he relies on his, in his words, "great memory," and did not find it necessary to track maintenance concerns in writing.
The facility had no policy or procedure for requesting maintenance at all. An email received by the director of nursing on September 10 stated plainly: "we don't have a policy or procedure." Staff could enter requests into the TELS work order system or tell MD-A verbally. The email also noted the facility had no environmental policy and no policy on maintaining a clean building.
A registered nurse, identified as RN-D, told inspectors the heat registers were in poor condition throughout the facility, and that beds leaning against them contributed to covers falling off across multiple rooms.
What the inspection captured is a loop that closed on itself without anyone fixing anything. A cover came off in June. A work order was submitted and closed. Residents raised the issue at a council meeting in August. The regional director was told it had been handled. The maintenance director walked the rooms in September, saw the hazard, and walked back out. A housekeeper had watched this cycle repeat enough times to describe it without hesitation.
The violation was cited at a level of minimal harm or potential for actual harm, affecting some residents.
The residents living in rooms R5, R14, R25, R29, R34, R49, and R77 spent the summer and into the fall with exposed metal edges at floor level, in spaces they cannot easily leave.
Full Inspection Report
The details above represent a summary of key findings. View the complete inspection report for Laurels Peak Care & Rehabilitation Center from 2025-09-11 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: September 6, 2026 · Our methodology
LAURELS PEAK HEALTH CARE, LLC in MANKATO, MN was cited for violations during a health inspection on September 11, 2025.
That is what inspectors documented at Laurels Peak Care & Rehabilitation Center following a complaint inspection completed September 11, 2025.
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.