Alaris Health at Cedar Grove: Meal Assistance Failures - NJ
Federal inspectors flagged the failure during a September 18 complaint inspection. The resident's care plan required meal assistance. The facility's own assessment rated the resident as dependent for eating activities. Neither document made a difference on more than a third of the shifts inspectors reviewed.
The problems extended beyond missed meals. A nutritional supplement had been added to the resident's care plan, but with no method to measure whether it was working. A separate care plan intervention required that any weight loss greater than three pounds be reported to the physician. That monitoring was not followed.
On September 17, inspectors met with the facility's registered dietitian, director of nursing, and administrator. The dietitian said the care plan was generic and should have been individualized. She acknowledged that weekly weight monitoring was required and had not happened.
"The care plan was generic and should have been individualized," the dietitian told the survey team.
The director of nursing said staff had received in-service training on aligning care plans with resident assessments and keeping documentation accurate. The facility's own policy, dated January 2025, required care planning to be built from assessment findings and to include goals that are reasonable and measurable. A separate undated weight policy required certified nursing assistants to obtain and record weights monthly, or weekly at the discretion of the dietitian or physician.
The dietitian's job description included responsibility for weight maintenance and overall nutritional well-being. None of that translated into consistent monitoring for this resident.
Inspectors classified the harm level as minimal, with potential for actual harm. Whether the resident lost weight during those 27 unassisted shifts, nobody had documented enough to know.
Full Inspection Report
The details above represent a summary of key findings. View the complete inspection report for Alaris Health At Cedar Grove from 2025-09-18 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 23, 2026 · Our methodology
ALARIS HEALTH AT CEDAR GROVE in CEDAR GROVE, NJ was cited for violations during a health inspection on September 18, 2025.
Federal inspectors flagged the failure during a September 18 complaint inspection.
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.