Las Alturas Nursing & Transitional Care Brownsville
180 EAST PRICE ROAD, Brownsville, TX, 78521
Federal Quality Data
Official records from CMS Care Compare — reported by the facility and audited by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. We present them unmodified. Refreshed March 2026.
CMS Star Ratings
Facility & Staffing
- Ownership
- For profit - Corporation
- Certified beds
- 122 · avg 83 residents/day
Enforcement & Citations
- Fines (past 3 years)
- 1 fine · $12,740 total
State licensing & capacity
- License number
- 311954
- Service type
- Medicare/medicaid
- Licensed capacity
- 122 beds
- Bed type breakdown
- 32 Medicare-only · 90 Medicaid/Medicare
- Current license effective
- June 21, 2025
- Current license expires
- June 21, 2028
- Initial license date
- May 28, 2024
Texas HHSC licensing registry · as of April 16, 2026
Ownership & operations
- Licensee
- Heritage Brownsville Health Development Llc (Limited Liability Company (LLC))
- Operator / manager
- Touchstone Communities, Inc
- Administrator
- Ramon Mendoza
Texas HHSC licensing registry · as of April 16, 2026
Federal ownership record
Disclosed owners (28 on record)
- Touchstone Communities Inc
Adp of The Snf · since 2025
- (unnamed Owner)
Adp of The Snf · since 2025
- (unnamed Owner)
Adp of The Snf · since 2025
- (unnamed Owner)
Adp of The Snf · since 2025
- (unnamed Owner)
Adp of The Snf · since 2025
- (unnamed Owner)
Adp of The Snf · since 2025
+ 22 additional owners on the federal record.
Source: CMS Provider Enrollment data — SNF Enrollments + All Owners, as of April 2026.
Federal inspection record
Immediate-jeopardy citations (CMS scope/severity J–L) are the most serious category federal inspectors issue — meaning a deficiency placed residents in immediate risk of serious harm. Ask the facility for the corrective-action plan filed with CMS, and consider contacting your state long-term care ombudsman for context.
Recent health-deficiency citations (most recent 8 of 12)
- D0755·Nov 19, 2025Complaint
Pharmacy Service Deficiencies
Provide pharmaceutical services to meet the needs of each resident and employ or obtain the services of a licensed pharmacist.
- D0628·Jul 1, 2025Complaint
Resident Rights Deficiencies
Provide the required documentation or notification related to the resident's needs, appeal rights, or bed-hold policies.
- D0578·Jul 1, 2025Complaint
Resident Rights Deficiencies
Honor the resident's right to request, refuse, and/or discontinue treatment, to participate in or refuse to participate in experimental research, and to formulate an advance directive.
- D0880·Jul 1, 2025
Infection Control Deficiencies
Provide and implement an infection prevention and control program.
- D0695·Jul 1, 2025
Quality of Life and Care Deficiencies
Provide safe and appropriate respiratory care for a resident when needed.
- D0693·Jul 1, 2025
Quality of Life and Care Deficiencies
Ensure that feeding tubes are not used unless there is a medical reason and the resident agrees; and provide appropriate care for a resident with a feeding tube.
- D0656·Jul 1, 2025
Resident Assessment and Care Planning Deficiencies
Develop and implement a complete care plan that meets all the resident's needs, with timetables and actions that can be measured.
- D0644·Jul 1, 2025
Resident Assessment and Care Planning Deficiencies
Coordinate assessments with the pre-admission screening and resident review program; and referring for services as needed.
Federal penalties
By year
- 20251 fine · $13K
Most recent events
- Jun 12, 2025Fine · $13K
Source: CMS Provider Data Catalog — Health Deficiencies, Fire Safety Deficiencies, and Penalties datasets, snapshot Mar 1, 2026.
About this community
Las Alturas Nursing & Transitional Care is a 122-bed Medicare- and Medicaid-certified nursing home in Brownsville, TX, managed by Touchstone Communities, Inc. CMS rates it 4 stars overall, with a 5-star quality-of-care rating for long-stay residents and a 4-star health inspection rating — but staffing earns just 1 star. The facility is operating at roughly 68% of licensed capacity, with 82 of 122 beds occupied on an average day.
Written from CMS Care Compare and state licensing records · last updated April 19, 2026
What the data says
CMS rates staffing here at 1 star — the lowest tier, shared by about 38% of Texas nursing homes. Residents receive approximately 199 minutes of nursing care per day, about 42 minutes less than at a 4-star-staffing facility in Texas. Registered nurse coverage is particularly thin at 10 minutes per resident per day, compared to 37 minutes at a 4-star-staffing Texas facility. Residents here also need more hands-on care than at a typical facility — less mobile or more medically complex on average — so those nursing hours stretch thinner than the raw minutes suggest.
Despite the staffing rating, CMS scores quality of care for long-stay residents at 5 stars and overall quality at 5 stars; the short-stay quality rating is 3 stars. The gap between a 1-star staffing score and strong long-stay quality outcomes is an unusual combination.
The facility carries one CMS fine totaling $12,740. That figure is below the Texas median of $20,699 for facilities that have been fined, and 30% of Texas nursing homes had no fines at all.
Occupancy sits at roughly 68% of licensed beds — about 40 beds unfilled on a typical day. Alongside the staffing and quality signals, that vacancy level is a concrete data point to raise when visiting.
Written from CMS Care Compare and state licensing records · last updated April 19, 2026
Questions to ask when you tour
Staffing levels day to day
With a 1-star CMS staffing rating and 199 daily nursing minutes per resident, ask how many nurses and aides are on the floor during a typical morning shift and on weekends, when staffing drops to 172 minutes.
RN presence on site
Reported registered-nurse hours average just 10 minutes per resident per day — ask when a registered nurse is physically on the unit and who covers nights and weekends.
Short-stay rehab outcomes
Long-stay quality rates 5 stars but short-stay quality rates 3 stars — ask what the typical discharge destination is for short-stay rehab patients and what the average length of stay is.
Current bed availability
The facility averages about 40 unfilled beds on any given day; ask whether that reflects a recent census change, a specific wing closure, or a shift in admissions.
Resident and family councils
No resident or family council is listed in CMS records — ask whether either exists and how residents and families formally raise concerns with management.
Management continuity under Touchstone
The license was initially issued in May 2024 and the current administrator is Ramon Mendoza — ask how long Touchstone Communities has managed this location and whether the leadership team has been stable.
Where this information comes from
- License, capacity, ownership, administrator: Texas HHSC licensing registry, snapshot as of April 16, 2026.
- Star ratings, staffing, fines, deficiencies: CMS Care Compare, processed March 1, 2026.
- Summary, insights, and tour questions: Written from the state licensing and CMS records above, last updated April 19, 2026.
Read our methodology for how this information is collected and verified.