CCN 16E668 · Palo Alto County, Iowa
Palo Alto County Hospital
3201 First Street, Emmetsburg, IA 50536
Palo Alto County Hospital is a 22-bed government-owned nursing home in Emmetsburg, Iowa, first certified for Medicare or Medicaid in 1986. CMS rates it 4 out of 5 stars overall in its September 2026 data, and it averaged 21.8 residents a day, about 99% of its certified beds. We found no FHA-insured Section 232 loan for it in HUD's healthcare endorsement database (fiscal 2001 onward).
Facility facts
- Certified beds
- 22
- Average residents per day
- 21.8 (99.1% of beds)
- Ownership type
- Government - County
- Certification
- Medicaid
- Legal business name
- Legal Business Name Not Available
- Certified since
- Feb 5, 1986
- Chain or affiliated group
- None listed by CMS
- Location
- Rural, inside a hospital
Ratings and staffing
Star ratings run from 1 to 5. Staffing is nurse hours per resident per day from CMS Payroll Based Journal data; turnover is the CMS annual nursing staff turnover rate. Occupancy is CMS's average daily census divided by certified beds.
| Measure | This facility | Iowa median | US median |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall rating | 4 of 5 | State spread: 78 at 1, 61 at 2, 86 at 3, 69 at 4, 91 at 5 | |
| Health inspections | 4 of 5 | ||
| Quality measures | 4 of 5 | ||
| Staffing | 4 of 5 | ||
| Total nurse hours per resident per day | 3.07 | 3.69 | 3.68 |
| RN hours per resident per day | 1.36 | 0.70 | 0.58 |
| Weekend nurse hours per resident per day | 2.30 | ||
| Nursing staff turnover | 17.6% | 41.9% | 44.9% |
| Occupancy (residents / beds) | 99.1% | 83.6% | 85.7% |
| Fines reported by CMS | None | ||
| Health deficiencies, latest standard survey | 1 (Jul 17, 2025) | ||
HUD 223(f) Express Lane: the CMS part
HUD gives 223(f) applications queue priority when the facility has CMS overall and health inspection ratings of at least 2 stars and no abuse icon, among other tests (ORCF criteria of March 31, 2026). Palo Alto County Hospital meets that part today: 4 stars overall, 4 on health inspections, no abuse icon. The loan-to-value, coverage and operator tests depend on the deal. All the criteria.
Who owns and operates it
CMS lists no 5% owners or managing organizations for this facility in its current ownership file.
Changes of ownership
No change of ownership for this facility appears in the CMS change-of-ownership file, which starts in January 2016.
HUD Section 232 loans
No FHA-insured loan matching this facility appears in HUD's database of healthcare endorsements, which covers fiscal 2001 onward (HUD data run of July 8, 2026). A loan could still exist under a different project name or from before 2001.
Sources and dates
Facility, rating, staffing and ownership data: CMS Provider Information and CMS Ownership, processing date September 2026. Private equity, REIT and mortgage-interest flags and changes of ownership: CMS Skilled Nursing Facility All Owners and Change of Ownership files (2026-10-01). FHA-insured loans: HUD Office of Healthcare Programs endorsement database, data run July 8, 2026. How we join them, and what the join can get wrong: methodology.
SNF Register is independent. It is not affiliated with or endorsed by CMS, HUD or FHA. Spotted an error? Write to hello@hudskillednursing.loan.