The Heritage Assisted Living Community is a 78-bed assisted living facility at 14420 South Helmer Road in Battle Creek, Calhoun County, Michigan, operated by Battle Creek Assisted Living Operator, LLC. It serves residents aged 60 and above with independent living, assisted living, and memory care. Apartment options and respite care are available. The setting is car-dependent with a walk score of 8.
The facility had eight deficiencies over six years, at 2 annually this appears favorable relative to Michigan’s 5.2 state average. Yet this comparison masks a precipitous collapse in documented compliance within the recent inspection cycle. A May 2023 administrative review confirmed substantial compliance. Eight months later, the March 2024 renewal inspection revealed seven deficiencies, suggesting either significant operational breakdown or prior inspection gaps.
The March 2024 deficiencies span financial controls, resident protection, staff screening, and operational documentation.
The facility held resident funds without an active bond. Resident A’s service plan lacked detail on anxiety behaviors and medication administration. The annual TB risk assessment was incomplete; one employee had no TB test record on file. Menus for therapeutic diets were not posted, and meal census records tracking food usage were absent, while refrigerated storage contained opened, unsealed, undated items.
The November 2022 complaint investigation carries greater weight. Fourteen employees were living in unoccupied licensed resident rooms for two to three months due to low resident census. Administrators Jonathan Zima and Carolyn Reed approved this arrangement despite its violation of facility rules. This finding is significant because it reveals that operational pressures from low occupancy led management to authorize a practice that directly contravenes licensing requirements.
The facility’s October 2020 original licensing identified no deficiencies. No fines, enforcement actions, or license suspensions are recorded. The license.
The substantiated employee housing violation in November 2022, followed by a clean administrative review seven months later, followed by seven deficiencies eight months after that, creates a pattern that deserves scrutiny.
If possible, request documentation showing how the November 2022 employee housing violation was remedied and whether facility leadership changed or remained unchanged; request the corrective action plans for all seven March 2024 deficiencies with evidence of completion and sustained compliance; and ask whether the facility’s occupancy and financial stability have improved since the November 2022 census crisis.
Families should verify current resident fund bonding status, TB screening procedures, and meal census documentation protocols.
