66/100
Average
Kern River Transitional Care
5151 Knudsen Drive, Bakersfield, CA 93308
- Certified beds
- 140
- Occupancy
- 97%
- Ownership
- For-profit
- Accepts
- Medicare + Medicaid
What to ask about before you visit
These are findings in the public CMS record for this home. They are not our opinion, each one comes straight from a federal inspection or enforcement file.
$77,720 in federal fines
CMS has fined this facility across 1 penalty action(s).
Our read on Kern River Transitional Care
Kern River Transitional Care runs 140 beds in Bakersfield under for-profit LLC ownership, and its numbers pull in two directions. Nurse staffing averages 4.52 hours per resident day, roughly 17% above the national figure, but weekends run about 12% thinner than weekdays and annual turnover sits at 48.3%, slightly worse than the 45.8% national average, so the coverage you get depends heavily on which day you visit. The bigger concern is the inspection record: 94 deficiencies, including one at the harm or jeopardy level and eight tied to abuse, with a $77,720 fine and a survey as recent as April 2025. Quality measures score well; the compliance history is what drags this home down.
Written from the CMS figures for this home shown further down this page. Nothing here is paid for or supplied by the home.
How this grade was calculated
Every point is shown. Nothing is weighted behind the scenes, the full formula is on How we grade.
A full pentagon is full marks. The shape shows what kind of good or bad a home is, two homes can share a score and look nothing alike.
Inspection safety
30/30Citations from state health inspections over the last three surveys, weighted by how much harm CMS says they caused.
- →No citations recorded in the last 3 years
Staffing
13/30Nursing hours per resident per day, adjusted for how sick the residents are, plus RN cover and weekend consistency.
- →3.44 total nurse hours per resident per day (national median 3.77)
- →0.54 RN hours per resident per day
- →Weekend staffing drops 12% against weekdays
Staff stability
9/15How much of the nursing team leaves in a year. High turnover means a resident rarely sees the same face twice.
- →48% of nursing staff left in the last year
Resident outcomes
12/15The CMS quality-measure rating, built from resident outcomes like falls, pressure ulcers, infections and antipsychotic use.
- →4 of 5 stars on the CMS quality-measure rating
Enforcement history
2/10Fines and payment denials CMS has imposed. A denial of payment means CMS stopped paying for new admissions.
- →$77,720 in federal fines across 1 action(s)
Staffing, against the national average
Full detailHours of nursing care each resident receives per day. The marker on each bar is the national average.
RNs are the licence level most likely to catch a resident deteriorating.
The shift most families visit, and the one thinned first.
The share of nursing staff who left over the last year.
Recent inspection findings
Last standard health inspection: April 24, 2025 (1 year ago). No citations were recorded.
No health-inspection citations on record for this facility in the current CMS release.
Who owns this home
Full recordPart of PACS GROUP, which operates 275 homes. Staffing budgets are usually set at chain level, not in the building.
What families say
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Common questions about Kern River Transitional Care
What is the ElderGrade for Kern River Transitional Care? +
Kern River Transitional Care holds an ElderGrade of C (66 out of 100), which we describe as "average". The grade combines its inspection citations, nurse staffing levels, staff turnover, resident outcomes and enforcement history from the federal CMS record.
How many nursing hours does each resident get at Kern River Transitional Care? +
Residents receive an average of 4.52 nursing hours per day across all nursing staff, against a national average of 3.86 hours.
Has Kern River Transitional Care been cited for harming residents? +
No. None of the 0 citations on record were scored at the levels CMS uses to indicate actual harm or immediate jeopardy.
Does Kern River Transitional Care accept Medicaid? +
Yes, Kern River Transitional Care is certified to accept Medicaid, which is the programme that pays for long-term custodial care once a resident meets their state's income and asset limits.
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