Core of Dale: Uncertified Dietary Manager Found - IN
When a federal inspector spoke with the dietary manager on the morning of September 16, 2025, she was straightforward about it. She had started the role on September 5. She did not have a current certification. She was working to get re-certified.
That was the situation at a facility responsible for feeding an unknown number of residents who depend on proper nutrition management — many of them elderly, many with medical conditions that make diet not a matter of preference but of health.
Nine days later, on September 25, the Director of Nursing handed inspectors a job description for the dietary manager position. It was current. It was undated. And it was unambiguous about what the role required.
The document listed minimum qualifications. Among them: certification as a dietary manager, or certification as a food service manager, along with compliance with state requirements for food service managers or dietary managers. The facility's own paperwork described these as requirements. Not preferences. Not goals.
The dietary manager did not meet them.
Dietary managers in nursing homes carry responsibilities that go well beyond scheduling meals and ordering supplies. They are responsible for ensuring residents receive nutritionally adequate food that accounts for their individual medical needs, allergies, and conditions. A certified dietary manager has completed training specifically designed to handle those responsibilities. Someone working toward re-certification has not yet demonstrated they meet that standard.
The inspection was conducted in response to a complaint. Inspectors classified the level of harm as minimal harm or potential for actual harm, and noted the deficiency affected many residents.
What the inspection record does not show is how Core of Dale came to hire someone into a role she was not yet qualified to fill, or whether anyone in leadership reviewed her credentials before she started. The Director of Nursing provided the job description only after inspectors asked for it on September 25. By then, the dietary manager had been working uncertified for twenty days.
The facility is located at 510 West Medcalf Road in Dale, a small town in southwestern Indiana.
No plan of correction appears in the portion of the inspection record made available. The deficiency was documented under a federal tag related to food and nutrition services staffing.
Twenty days is not a long time. It is also not nothing. Three meals a day, for many residents, managed by someone whose qualifications the facility's own standards said were insufficient.
Full Inspection Report
The details above represent a summary of key findings. View the complete inspection report for Core of Dale from 2025-09-25 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: September 13, 2026 · Our methodology
CORE OF DALE in DALE, IN was cited for violations during a health inspection on September 25, 2025.
When a federal inspector spoke with the dietary manager on the morning of September 16, 2025, she was straightforward about it.
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.