Clark County Rehab: Abuse Reports Not Filed With State - WI
That was the second time in four days the nursing home had failed to report an abuse allegation to state authorities. The first involved a different resident, a different set of staff members, and a week-long silence that ended only when a nurse showed up to her supervisor in a panic, having suddenly remembered she'd forgotten to say anything.
Together, the two incidents form the core of a complaint inspection completed October 15, 2025 at the 52-bed facility on County Highway X in Owen, a small city in Clark County in north-central Wisconsin. Federal inspectors cited the facility for failing to protect residents from abuse and failing to meet its own reporting obligations — violations tagged at a level indicating minimal harm or potential for actual harm.
The first incident involved a resident identified in inspection records as R1. The details of what happened to R1 on August 5 and August 6, 2025 are not described in the portion of the inspection report available for review. What the records do describe is what happened afterward. Nothing, for nearly a week.
On August 12, a nurse identified as RN D approached her supervisor, RN C, in what the facility's own director of nursing described as a panic. RN D had just realized she had never reported the incident. RN C immediately brought it to the Director of Nursing, identified in the report as DON B. That same day, two staff members, RN E and a nursing assistant identified as CNA F, were placed on administrative leave.
The surveyor asked DON B a direct question: why did it take from August 5 and 6 until August 12 to report? DON B's answer pointed to RN D's belated, panicked disclosure. There were no written statements from staff. DON B had not kept notes from interviews with staff after typing up a timeline.
The surveyor asked whether RN E and CNA F had been reported to the state agency responsible for caregiver quality. DON B said no. The surveyor asked whether the incident had been reported to police. DON B said no.
When the surveyor asked about training, DON B acknowledged there may be staff with lapses in annual training, attributing this to the facility transitioning to a new training system. CNA G, identified as a casual employee, had missed training entirely under that system. RN E was scheduled to complete trainings.
The second incident is, in some respects, more troubling, because the failure to report was not an accident.
The resident at the center of that incident, identified as R3, had been admitted to the facility with a complicated psychiatric history: mild cognitive impairment, a personality disorder, delusional disorders, unspecified psychosis, and depression. On August 8, 2025, his sister contacted local law enforcement to report an allegation of abuse. At 3:31 that afternoon, officers arrived at Clark County Rehabilitation & Living Center and told staff directly why they were there.
The facility never filed a Facility Reported Incident with the state.
When the surveyor interviewed DON B about this on October 14, the day before the inspection closed, DON B's explanation was not that the report had been overlooked or delayed. It was that the facility had decided the allegation did not need to be reported or investigated at all.
DON B told the surveyor that R3 and his sister had called police and reported numerous allegations of abuse before, and that those prior reports had been unfounded. DON B also said the facility had actually contacted police ahead of August 8, warning them that R3 might call to report being held against his will. In DON B's framing, the facility already knew this allegation wasn't true.
So they didn't report it.
The surveyor's question, recorded in the inspection report, was simple: why was this allegation not reported? DON B's answer was that the facility "did not think it should be reported or investigated."
That reasoning, that a prior pattern of unfounded complaints justifies skipping the process entirely on a new one, is precisely the kind of institutional logic that abuse reporting requirements exist to prevent. A resident with a documented psychiatric history, including delusional disorders and unspecified psychosis, making repeated complaints of being held against his will, is not a resident whose complaints are self-evidently false. He is a resident whose complaints require the same procedural response as anyone else's. The investigation is how you establish whether something happened. Deciding in advance that nothing happened is not an investigation.
DON B did not dispute that law enforcement had arrived at the facility in response to an abuse allegation. The facility's own account confirms that officers showed up, that staff knew the purpose of the visit, and that no report was filed with the state agency.
The two incidents, taken together, reveal something beyond individual lapses. In the case of R1, a nurse forgot to report for a week and nobody else caught it. There were no written statements. Interview notes were discarded after a timeline was typed. Two staff members were put on administrative leave without the state caregiver quality agency being notified. In the case of R3, the failure to report was a deliberate institutional decision, made by the director of nursing, based on a judgment that the allegation was already known to be false.
The facility's training system was in transition. CNA G, who worked as a casual employee, had fallen through the gaps entirely. RN E had not completed required trainings. The inspection report does not specify what those trainings covered.
Clark County Rehabilitation & Living Center sits on County Highway X outside Owen, a community of roughly 900 people. The facility serves residents with a range of medical and psychiatric needs. R3's diagnoses alone, mild cognitive impairment, delusional disorders, unspecified psychosis, depression, describe a person who is among the most vulnerable to abuse and among the least likely to be believed when he reports it.
His sister believed him enough to call the police. The police believed the call was serious enough to drive to the facility that same afternoon. The facility decided it already knew the answer.
Full Inspection Report
The details above represent a summary of key findings. View the complete inspection report for Clark County Rehabilitation & Living Center from 2025-10-15 including all violations, facility responses, and corrective action plans.
Additional Resources
Data source: Official federal inspection data from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS).
Editorial process: AI-synthesized regulatory data, reviewed for accuracy by our editorial team.
Professional review: All content reviewed by Christopher F. Nesbitt, Sr., NH EMT & BU-trained Paralegal.
Last verified: June 24, 2026 · Our methodology
CLARK COUNTY REHABILITATION & LIVING CENTER in OWEN, WI was cited for abuse-related violations during a health inspection on October 15, 2025.
That was the second time in four days the nursing home had failed to report an abuse allegation to state authorities.
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.