River City Care Center: Food Safety Failures - TX
A bag of sliced cheese sat open and unsealed in the walk-in refrigerator, exposed to air. Nearby, a bag of onions and bell peppers had no discard date or use-by label. The temperature log for the previous night, May 27, was missing readings for two freezers and one refrigerator. By late morning, an open personal beverage belonging to a dietary aide was sitting in the food preparation area while staff prepped lunch for residents.
Four violations. One kitchen. One inspection.
The Dietary Manager acknowledged each problem as inspectors walked through. He told inspectors that all kitchen staff could ensure temperatures were recorded and food was stored properly, but that he oversaw everything. He confirmed that foods stored in the refrigerator should carry a discard date and be kept in a sealed bag, so staff could be certain ingredients used in residents' meals were not old or had not gone hard. He said temperatures needed to be documented to ensure proper food storage.
He knew what the standards were. The logs still weren't filled out.
A staff member identified in the report as Dietary Aide D confirmed the open cup of fluid in the prep area was his. He told inspectors he had just poured it and stepped out of the kitchen. He acknowledged the drink should not have been there because it could cause cross contamination. The Dietary Manager agreed.
The facility's own internal policy on food temperature control, in place since 2012, requires temperatures to be recorded on a temperature log form. A separate policy on refrigerator and freezer temperature logs, also dated 2012, designates the Dietary Services Manager as the person responsible for ensuring temperatures are recorded daily, morning and evening, at the same time each day. A third policy from the same year states that open packages of food are to be stored in closed containers with covers or in sealed bags.
The policies existed. The compliance did not.
Inspectors rated the harm level as minimal, or potential for actual harm, and noted the violations could place residents at risk for foodborne illness. The finding covered one kitchen and affected some residents.
The gaps identified at River City Care Center are not exotic or technically difficult to prevent. Sealing a bag of cheese, writing a date on a label, recording a temperature reading twice a day, keeping a personal drink out of the prep area: these are among the most basic requirements in food service. They are basic precisely because the consequences of skipping them, spoiled food, bacterial growth, cross contamination, are predictable and preventable.
Nursing home residents are among the most vulnerable people to foodborne illness. Older adults with weakened immune systems, underlying conditions, or limited mobility have less capacity to recover from infections that a younger, healthier person might shake off in a day or two. A facility's kitchen is not a secondary concern.
The Dietary Manager's own words to inspectors captured the stakes plainly. He said it was important to have temperature logs up to date to ensure no food went bad. He said foods should be sealed and dated so staff could be certain what residents were eating was not old. He said all of this while standing in a kitchen where none of it had been done the night before, and where a bag of unlabeled produce and an open container of cheese were already in the refrigerator.
What the inspection report does not say is whether this was a single bad day or a pattern. What it does say is that when someone finally walked in to check, the cheese was open, the peppers had no date, the logs had gaps, and a dietary aide's drink was sitting next to the food being prepared for lunch.
Full Inspection Report
The details above represent a summary of key findings. View the complete inspection report for River City Care Center from 2026-05-29 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 21, 2026 · Our methodology
RIVER CITY CARE CENTER in SAN ANTONIO, TX was cited for violations during a health inspection on May 29, 2026.
A bag of sliced cheese sat open and unsealed in the walk-in refrigerator, exposed to air.
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.