Nursing homes across Clay County, South Dakota, graded on the federal inspection
record, nurse staffing and staff turnover. County rank is shown on each home's profile.
Wakonda Heritage Manor runs on staffing that lands right at the national average, 3.85 nurse hours per resident day against 3.86 nationwide, and weekend coverage dips about 19% below what the home provides on weekdays, so families should ask who's actually on the floor on Saturdays and Sundays. Turnover sits at 33.3%, well under the 45.8% national figure, which matters for residents who benefit from seeing the same faces. The inspection record is decent but not clean: eight deficiencies, including one at the harm level and one tied to abuse, plus a $12,675 fine. The most recent inspection was in May 2026.
Sanford Care Center Vermillion runs on tighter staffing than most homes its size, 3.31 nurse hours per resident day against a national average of 3.86, with weekends dipping roughly another 10% below its own weekday coverage. Turnover sits at 45.5%, essentially tracking the national rate, so the issue isn't retention so much as how thin the floor gets. On inspections, the record shows 11 deficiencies, three of them serious enough to involve harm or jeopardy and one tied to abuse, plus a single fine of $44,577. The last inspection was in October 2025. Two stars each for health inspections and quality measures, four for staffing, and nonprofit ownership round out the picture.
Sunset Manor runs a genuinely strong bedside staffing line, 5.10 nurse hours per resident day, roughly a third more than the national norm, and that's the one number here that works in families' favor. But weekends dip about 16% below the home's own weekday coverage, and the same staff is turning over at 70.4% a year against a national 45.8%, so the people delivering that care keep changing. Inspectors cited 17 deficiencies on the current record, four at harm or jeopardy level and five tied to abuse, with $40,596 in fines, and the most recent inspection closed out in late December 2025. Nonprofit ownership hasn't kept the compliance record clean.