Merkel Nursing Center
1704 N 1St, Merkel, TX, 79536
Get the complete federal record on this facility — full background report, $249.
Order the reportFederal 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 June 2026.
CMS Abuse Flag
CMS has flagged this facility for a substantiated finding of resident abuse, neglect, or exploitation in its current or recent inspection cycle. Ask the facility for the specific citation and corrective-action plan during your visit, and consider contacting your state's long-term care ombudsman for context.
Source: CMS Care Compare.
Special Focus Candidate
CMS has identified this facility as a Special Focus Candidate — a track record of serious quality issues that places it one step away from full Special Focus Facility designation.
Source: CMS Care Compare.
CMS Star Ratings
Facility & Staffing
- Ownership
- For profit - Limited Liability company
- Certified beds
- 65 · avg 27 residents/day
- Total nursing staff turnover
- 64.9% — higher than most Texas nursing homesTexas avg: 53.8% · National avg: 46.1% · per CMS Care Compare
- RN turnover
- 60% — higher than most Texas nursing homesTexas avg: 52.8% · National avg: 43.3% · per CMS Care Compare
- Administrators who left
- 0 departed — near the Texas averageTexas avg: 0.7 · National avg: 0.5 · per CMS Care Compare
Enforcement & Citations
- Fines (past 3 years)
- 4 fines · $397,149 total
Medicare certification
- CMS Certification Number
- 676053
- Certified beds
- 65 beds · avg 27 residents/day
- Ownership type
- For profit - Limited Liability company
- Continuing-care community
- No
CMS Care Compare, processing date June 1, 2026
Ownership & operations
- Legal business name
- Emi Healthcare Llc
CMS Care Compare, processing date June 1, 2026
Federal ownership record
Disclosed owners (5 on record)
- Axel Martinez Irizarry
Adp of The Snf · since 2025
- Clarence Stroh
Adp of The Snf · since 2022
- Joe Alexander
Adp of The Snf · since 2022
- Rainey Renee Alexander
Operational/managerial Control · since 2022
- Stroh Properties lp
Adp of The Snf · since 2022
Recent change of ownership
January 2022 (4 years ago) · acquired from Merkel Nursing Center
Transaction type: Change of Ownership
Source: CMS Provider Enrollment data — SNF Enrollments + All Owners + Change of Ownership, as of May 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 64)
- F0882·Feb 16, 2026Complaint
Infection Control Deficiencies
Designate a qualified infection preventionist to be responsible for the infection prevent and control program in the nursing home.
- F0881·Feb 16, 2026Complaint
Infection Control Deficiencies
Implement a program that monitors antibiotic use.
- F0728·Feb 16, 2026Complaint
Nursing and Physician Services Deficiencies
Ensure that nurse aides who have worked more than 4 months, are trained and competent; and nurse aides who have worked less than 4 months are enrolled in appropriate training.
- F0727·Feb 16, 2026Complaint
Nursing and Physician Services Deficiencies
Have a registered nurse on duty 8 hours a day; and select a registered nurse to be the director of nurses on a full time basis.
- K0726·Feb 16, 2026Complaint
Nursing and Physician Services Deficiencies
Ensure that nurses and nurse aides have the appropriate competencies to care for every resident in a way that maximizes each resident's well being.
- K0725·Feb 16, 2026Complaint
Nursing and Physician Services Deficiencies
Provide enough nursing staff every day to meet the needs of every resident; and have a licensed nurse in charge on each shift.
- K0689·Feb 16, 2026Complaint
Quality of Life and Care Deficiencies
Ensure that a nursing home area is free from accident hazards and provides adequate supervision to prevent accidents.
- K0600·Feb 16, 2026Complaint
Freedom from Abuse, Neglect, and Exploitation Deficiencies
Protect each resident from all types of abuse such as physical, mental, sexual abuse, physical punishment, and neglect by anybody.
Federal penalties
By year
- 20261 fine · $211K
- 20251 fine · $178K
- 20232 fines · $8,042
Most recent events
- Feb 16, 2026Fine · $211K
- Aug 22, 2025Fine · $178K
- Jun 26, 2023Fine · $4,196
- Jun 20, 2023Fine · $3,846
Largest single fine on record: $211K.
Fire-safety citations
9 Life-Safety-Code citations on file. Most recent: Dec 4, 2025. Fire-safety inspections cover building-level Life Safety Code compliance, separate from the resident-care health survey.
Source: CMS Provider Data Catalog — Health Deficiencies, Fire Safety Deficiencies, and Penalties datasets, snapshot Jun 1, 2026.
Facility background report
The entire federal paper trail on this facility, in one report.
We compile everything the government publishes about Merkel Nursing Centerinto one plain-English report: full inspection history with severity grades, every fine, staffing versus state averages, who really owns the facility, and how the owner's other facilities perform. Every fact cites its federal source.
Order the full background report — $249Where this information comes from
- Certification, capacity, ownership, star ratings, staffing, fines, deficiencies: CMS Care Compare, processing date June 1, 2026.
Data comes unaltered from the federal files. See every source we publish from.