Rennes Health and Rehab: No Call Light in Spa Room - WI
That exchange, documented in a October 2025 complaint inspection at Rennes Health and Rehab Center-Rhinelander, captures something inspectors found across both spa rooms in the facility: no call light within reach of anyone sitting in a spa tub.
The surveyor walked the 400-wing spa room on the morning of October 2nd. No call light in the tub room. No cord long enough to reach from the shower room into the tub area. The surveyor then checked the 100-wing spa room. Same problem. The call lights in each room clustered near the vanity and shower, nowhere near where a resident would actually be sitting in the water.
The resident at the center of the complaint, identified in inspection records only as R1, had been left alone in the spa tub on September 29th. His preference for privacy while bathing was apparently well known among staff. The administrator, identified as NHA A, told the surveyor that R1 "is his own person and can have privacy in the tub."
That preference had never been formally assessed or written into R1's care plan. When the surveyor asked whether anyone had evaluated whether R1 could safely bathe alone in the spa room, NHA A acknowledged it had not been care planned. "Everyone knew that he liked his privacy in spa room," NHA A said.
Knowing a resident's preference is not the same as planning for his safety.
The Director of Nursing, identified as DON B, told the surveyor that afternoon that if staff leave a resident in the spa room, a call light should be within reach. When asked whether there actually was one, DON B said there was one near the shower area. There was. It just didn't reach the tub.
Five days later, on October 7th, the surveyor brought both DON B and NHA A back to the 100-wing spa room and asked NHA A to show where the call lights were. NHA A picked one up near the entrance. The surveyor asked whether the cord reached into the tub room. Both the administrator and the director of nursing confirmed it did not. The surveyor asked whether there was a call light in the spa tub room itself. NHA A said there was not.
Then came the question of how R1 had been left in that room without one on September 29th.
"I don't know. I didn't build the building."
The inspection classified the violation as minimal harm, meaning no injury was documented. But the classification reflects what happened, not what could have. A resident alone in a bathtub, unable to summon help, is a resident who has no recourse if he slips, loses consciousness, or simply needs someone to come.
The facility's own director of nursing said staff should ensure a call light is in reach before leaving a resident alone. That standard wasn't met. The administrator said he didn't know there was no call light in the spa tub room, then confirmed there wasn't one, then couldn't explain why R1 had been left there without one anyway.
R1's preference for privacy was treated as sufficient justification. His safety was not part of the plan, because there was no plan. Just something everyone knew.
Full Inspection Report
The details above represent a summary of key findings. View the complete inspection report for Rennes Health and Rehab Center-rhinelander from 2025-10-13 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
RENNES HEALTH AND REHAB CENTER-RHINELANDER in RHINELANDER, WI was cited for violations during a health inspection on October 13, 2025.
The surveyor walked the 400-wing spa room on the morning of October 2nd.
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.