Sandia Ridge Center: Snack Shortage Leaves Residents Hungry - NM
He was right. When inspectors arrived on April 23, the locked unit nourishment refrigerator held a sandwich labeled for one specific resident, some unlabeled and undated yogurts, a white shopping bag of sandwich items, and two metal tumblers with no dates or names on them. That was what passed for a snack supply on a unit housing roughly 22 residents per hall.
A certified nurse aide told inspectors the nighttime options came down to five milk cartons, a few yogurts, and a few supplement shakes. She didn't think it was enough. When residents asked for something to eat, staff sometimes walked to the vending machine in the facility and bought food out of their own pockets.
A second aide confirmed the same picture four days later: five shakes, four or five sandwiches, two halls of residents, and a kitchen that locked at night with no staff access. She said residents asked for snacks constantly. She said staff had already put in requests for more. Nothing had changed.
The dietary manager told inspectors he distributed snacks three times a day, but only to residents with a registered dietician's order. Everyone else wasn't getting one. He said snacks weren't left in the refrigerator for general use because staff couldn't access the kitchen after hours.
The Director of Nursing explained the policy shift plainly: the facility used to put out snacks for everyone, food went uneaten, and the facility lost money throwing away the leftovers. So they stopped.
The activities assistant had become an informal backup. Residents knew she kept snacks and came to her directly. She bought her own supply to hand out to whoever asked.
Among the residents going without were those with diabetes, who needed food at night not as a comfort but as a medical matter. The aide who raised that point said she didn't think five milk cartons covered it.
The inspection was classified as minimal harm or potential for actual harm. The resident who said he had to ask and was turned away didn't use that language. He said he was hungry and the staff told him there was nothing for him.
Full Inspection Report
The details above represent a summary of key findings. View the complete inspection report for Sandia Ridge Center from 2026-04-29 including all violations, facility responses, and corrective action plans.
Download the official CMS inspection PDF from Medicare.gov
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
Sandia Ridge Center in Albuquerque, NM was cited for violations during a health inspection on April 29, 2026.
That was what passed for a snack supply on a unit housing roughly 22 residents per hall.
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.