Premier SNF of Alice: Unlicensed CNA Worked Full-Time - TX
Federal inspectors discovered the lapse during a complaint inspection completed August 14, 2025. They pulled the personnel file and found it: CNA A's certification had expired, and he had continued working through the entire period without anyone catching it.
He had been at the facility for approximately five years.
When inspectors sat down with the Director of Nursing at 12:16 p.m. on the day of the inspection, she said she was not aware the certification had expired. She explained that each employee was responsible for keeping their own license or certification current, and that the Human Resources Coordinator was responsible for auditing staff credentials periodically. She was direct about what an expired certification means: a staff member without proper certification or licensure, she said, may accidentally harm a resident. She also said CNA A was one of the best aides in the building, that he constantly received compliments from residents and their families.
Fourteen minutes later, inspectors spoke with the Human Resources Coordinator, who had been in her role since an unspecified date. She confirmed that tracking certifications was her responsibility, and that she ran audits periodically to check whether staff credentials were current. The last audit, she said, had been conducted sometime before the inspection. She had missed CNA A's expired certification when she reviewed it. She acknowledged it was important to ensure all staff were properly certified to keep residents as safe as possible.
Then inspectors spoke with CNA A himself at 12:35 p.m. He said he had not known his certification had expired. His explanation was straightforward and, given what he had been told decades earlier, not entirely unreasonable: when he first obtained his certification in 1988, instructors told him that as long as he kept working, his certification would renew automatically. He had believed that ever since. He also said he thought the facility was responsible for maintaining it.
He had been operating under that assumption for the entire length of his career.
The facility's own employee handbook said otherwise. Page 26 stated that all professionally registered, licensed, and certified staff are required to maintain current licensure and certification, that a copy of current documentation must be submitted to the department head for inclusion in the personnel file, and that failure to maintain status may result in suspension or termination. The handbook also stated the cost of renewal was the employee's responsibility. CNA A had signed the handbook's acknowledgment page.
The inspection cited the deficiency at a level of minimal harm or potential for actual harm, and noted that few residents were affected. But the DON's own words during the inspection capture the underlying risk plainly: an active certification, she said, showed that an employee was capable and deemed fit to practice. Without it, there was no verified confirmation that the person providing care met the standard the state requires.
Three people were responsible for catching this, by the facility's own account: CNA A, who was supposed to track his own credentials; the Human Resources Coordinator, who was supposed to audit them; and the department head, who was supposed to receive current documentation. The handbook had been signed. The audit had been run. The certification had still been missed.
CNA A had worked a full-time schedule throughout the lapse, in rooms with residents who had no way of knowing that the aide helping them bathe, reposition, and move through their days was doing so without a current certification. The residents who complimented him, whose families praised him, received that care regardless.
Whether his certification has since been renewed, and what the facility has changed to prevent the same gap from opening again for another employee, the inspection report does not say.
Full Inspection Report
The details above represent a summary of key findings. View the complete inspection report for The Premier Snf of Alice from 2025-08-14 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 22, 2026 · Our methodology
THE PREMIER SNF OF ALICE in ALICE, TX was cited for violations during a health inspection on August 14, 2025.
Federal inspectors discovered the lapse during a complaint inspection completed August 14, 2025.
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.