Cascadia of Boise: Food Contamination Violations - ID
That was September 26. It was 12:08 in the afternoon.
Two minutes later, when a nurse identified in the inspection report as RN #2 was asked whether he understood that the freezer food was now contaminated, he said yes. He said it would get thrown away.
The certified dietary manager learned about it four minutes after that. She told inspectors she had no idea a resident's spouse had been storing non-food items in the freezer. She said there was a resident food policy included in every admission packet. She agreed the freezer would need to be cleaned and sanitized, and the food discarded.
The ice pack was gone. So was the food. But inspectors had already seen what they needed to see.
The freezer finding was one of two food safety violations documented during a complaint inspection completed November 19, 2025. The other involved the ice machines, and it had been visible for longer.
On September 22, at 10:50 in the morning, inspectors observed a dark residue coating the interior of the white plastic ice separator inside the kitchen ice machine. Five minutes later, the facility's registered dietitian looked at the same residue and told inspectors the machines are cleaned quarterly. She said she wasn't sure why this one didn't appear to have been cleaned.
The same inspection team walked into the Alpine ice room forty minutes later. The ice machine there had the same dark residue on the interior of its white plastic ice separator. RN #2 was with them. He said the machines are cleaned regularly. He said he wasn't sure when this one had last been cleaned.
Two machines. Two staff members. Neither could say when cleaning had last happened.
The inspection report does not identify what the dark residue was. It does not say whether any resident became ill. What it documents is that 70 residents were consuming food and ice prepared by this facility, and that the surfaces those products contacted were visibly dirty, and that the people responsible for maintaining them could not account for the lapse.
The certified dietary manager's response to the freezer contamination was immediate and practical. She agreed with the inspectors on the spot. The food went out. The freezer would be sanitized. The process was orderly and cooperative.
That cooperation doesn't change what was there before anyone thought to look.
A therapy ice pack belongs in a clinical supply area. Lemon ices and a frozen yogurt belong in a food freezer with a resident's name on them and a date. An ice machine used by 70 people should be clean enough that a staff member can say, with confidence, when it was last serviced. None of those things were true at Cascadia of Boise on the days inspectors arrived.
The violation was classified as minimal harm or potential for actual harm. No residents were named in the report. No illnesses were documented.
The unnamed resident whose food was thrown away that afternoon, and whoever had been eating lemon ices from an undated container stored next to a pillowcase-wrapped ice pack, may never know any of this happened.
Full Inspection Report
The details above represent a summary of key findings. View the complete inspection report for Cascadia of Boise from 2025-11-19 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 20, 2026 · Our methodology
Cascadia of Boise in Boise, ID was cited for violations during a health inspection on November 19, 2025.
He said it would get thrown away.
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.