Sterling Nursing and Rehab: Dishwasher Temp Failures - TX
A dietary aide identified in inspection records as DA H ran the machine three times on the afternoon of September 10, 2025, watching the wash temperature top out at 100 degrees. The manufacturer's posted instructions, hanging in the kitchen, said to report anything below 120. DA H read them. He told the inspector he then realized he needed to tell his supervisor.
That was the first anyone had said anything, despite ten days of recorded failures.
The facility's own dish machine logbook, kept from September 1 through September 10, showed the wash cycle falling short of 120 degrees at nearly every noon reading across the entire period. On September 1, the noon wash reached only 100 degrees. The morning wash that same day hit 95. The machine was brand new, recently swapped in to replace a previous unit.
When a surveyor visited on September 11, DA H explained that he thought someone had turned down the water temperature because the new machine hadn't worked correctly since the weekend. He said he hadn't told anyone because he didn't realize it needed to be reported.
The dietary manager, once notified on September 10, photographed the dial and sent the image to the maintenance director. The administrator told the surveyor he believed maintenance had lowered the temperature intentionally to raise the sanitization level. Then he said he didn't know. He hadn't been there.
The surveyor asked for the facility's policy on dish sanitization. There was no policy to provide.
The manufacturer's posted instructions required 140-degree water and directed staff to report anything below 120. For ten days, residents ate off dishes washed at temperatures the machine's own posted instructions flagged as a problem worth escalating. Nobody escalated anything until an inspector was already in the building.
Full Inspection Report
The details above represent a summary of key findings. View the complete inspection report for Sterling Nursing and Rehab from 2025-09-11 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
Sterling Nursing and Rehab in STERLING CITY, TX was cited for violations during a health inspection on September 11, 2025.
The manufacturer's posted instructions, hanging in the kitchen, said to report anything below 120.
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.