Willowbend Healthcare and Rehabilitation

    830 Canal St, Marion, AR, 72364
    3.1 · 24 reviews
    • Assisted living
    • Memory care
    • Skilled nursing
    AnonymousLoved one of resident
    2.0

    Clean facility inconsistent care errors

    Beautiful, clean facility with friendly CNAs, good therapy and in-facility hospice that often felt like home - but my experience was mixed. Communication and professionalism were inconsistent: staff sometimes attentive and compassionate, yet I saw long waits, medication mistakes, billing/transfer issues, mishandled emergencies, and they failed to notify our family when my mother died; belongings were lost. It's expensive; based on my experience I cannot recommend.

    Pricing

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    Amenities

    Healthcare services

    • Activities of daily living assistance
    • Assistance with bathing
    • Assistance with dressing
    • Assistance with transfers
    • Medication management
    • Mental wellness program

    Healthcare staffing

    • 12-16 hour nursing
    • 24-hour call system
    • 24-hour supervision

    Meals and dining

    • Diabetes diet
    • Meal preparation and service
    • Restaurant-style dining
    • Special dietary restrictions

    Room

    • Air-conditioning
    • Cable
    • Fully furnished
    • Housekeeping and linen services
    • Kitchenettes
    • Private bathrooms
    • Telephone
    • Wifi

    Transportation

    • Community operated transportation
    • Transportation arrangement
    • Transportation arrangement (non-medical)

    Common areas

    • Beauty salon
    • Computer center
    • Dining room
    • Fitness room
    • Gaming room
    • Garden
    • Outdoor space
    • Small library
    • Wellness center

    Community services

    • Concierge services
    • Fitness programs
    • Move-in coordination

    Activities

    • Community-sponsored activities
    • Planned day trips
    • Resident-run activities
    • Scheduled daily activities

    3.13 · 24 reviews

    Overall rating

    1. 5
    2. 4
    3. 3
    4. 2
    5. 1
    • Care

      3.5
    • Staff

      3.2
    • Meals

      5.0
    • Amenities

      4.0
    • Value

      1.0

    Pros

    • Attentive medical and nursing staff
    • Compassionate, team-based care
    • In-facility hospice and end-of-life support
    • Skilled therapy services
    • Individualized care plans
    • Restaurant-style dining
    • Specialized activity programming
    • Clean, spotless facility
    • Home-like, nicely decorated environment
    • Friendly and helpful CNAs and housekeepers
    • Resident-first decision making
    • Beautiful facility and grounds (golf course setting)
    • Convenient location
    • Semi-private room options
    • New building/planned improvements

    Cons

    • Poor communication with families
    • Failure to notify family of significant events or death
    • Unprofessional or uncaring staff in some shifts
    • Mishandling of medical emergencies and unclear hospital transfer information
    • Medication errors (wrong meds)
    • Long waits for bathroom assistance
    • Neglectful or inattentive care/staff distracted on phones
    • Billing problems and high cost / not affordable for some
    • Missing personal belongings
    • Admission and discharge bed availability delays
    • Space constraints in semi-private rooms
    • Complaints severe enough that some planned to report to state authorities

    Summary review

    Overall impression: The reviews for Willowbend Healthcare and Rehabilitation are mixed but contain many strong positive accounts alongside several serious negative reports. Multiple reviewers praise the facility for delivering high-quality, compassionate clinical care — including specialized therapy services and in-facility hospice and end-of-life support — and describe a home-like atmosphere, clean environment, and attentive staff. At the same time, there is a recurring and significant cluster of concerns centered on communication failures, administrative issues, and occasional safety or neglect incidents. Those contrasting themes are the dominant patterns across the reviews.

    Care quality and staff: Numerous comments highlight attentive medical staff, team-based care, individualized care plans, and skilled therapy. Several reviewers explicitly note that nurses, CNAs, therapists, and housekeepers were caring, professional, and supportive; some families felt the facility provided compassionate end-of-life supervision and hospice services that made the resident feel at home. Other reviewers, however, report strikingly different experiences: allegations of uncaring, unprofessional, or neglectful staff, medication mistakes, long waits for personal care (including bathroom assistance), and staff appearing distracted (e.g., frequently on phones). The divergence suggests inconsistency in staff performance across shifts or units — some teams are praised repeatedly while others generated serious complaints.

    Facilities, dining, and programming: The physical facility receives consistently positive mentions. Reviewers describe Willowbend as clean, nicely decorated, and located on attractive grounds (a golf course setting was noted). Dining is highlighted as restaurant-style by some reviewers, and activity programming is described as specialized and engaging. Semi-private rooms are available; reviewers generally find the facility pleasant but some mention that semi-private rooms can feel a bit tight. The existence of plans for a new building or improvements is noted and viewed positively by some families.

    Communication, administration, and safety concerns: The most recurrent negative theme is poor communication and lack of transparency. Several reviews assert that families were not informed about critical events — including multiple mentions that family members were not notified of a resident's death — and one reviewer stated the nurse in charge failed to inform the family. Other administrative failures include billing disputes, perceived high cost or unaffordability, missing belongings following a resident's death, and admission/discharge coordination problems (e.g., admission delays, no bed available at discharge). There are also isolated but serious clinical safety reports: medication errors, mishandling of a medical emergency without informing families where the resident was transferred, and claims of neglect that some reviewers characterized as grounds for regulatory complaint.

    Patterns, risk areas, and considerations for families: The reviews paint a picture of a facility that can deliver excellent, compassionate care — particularly for end-of-life, therapy, and routine support — but where service consistency and administrative reliability vary. Positive experiences tend to emphasize attentive staff, cleanliness, and robust programming; negative experiences focus on communication breakdowns, safety incidents, and billing/administrative problems. For prospective residents and families, the most prudent steps are to verify the facility’s communication protocols (how and when families are notified about medical events), ask about staffing levels and shift consistency, review medication administration and incident reporting procedures, check billing practices and charges up front, inspect semi-private room dimensions in person, and inquire about hospice and therapy programs. If possible, speaking with multiple current families and asking management about recent complaints and corrective actions will help assess whether the strengths or the concerning patterns are most representative of current operations.

    Bottom line: Willowbend appears to offer many of the hallmarks of high-quality senior care — compassionate clinical staff, clean and pleasant facilities, comprehensive therapy and hospice services, and engaging activities — but reviewers also repeatedly raise serious issues around family communication, administrative transparency, and occasional clinical errors or neglect. Those divergences are significant enough that careful, specific due diligence is advised before making a placement decision.

    Location

    Map showing location of Willowbend Healthcare and Rehabilitation

    About Willowbend Healthcare and Rehabilitation

    Willowbend Healthcare and Rehabilitation sits in a quiet spot in Marion, where elders and families looking for care options can walk around, meet the staff and residents, see how folks live, and really get a feel for the place. The community works with Medicaid and other payment plans, so people have several ways to cover costs, and there's administrative staff to help with Medicaid applications, payment questions, and appeals, which can make things a bit easier for families sorting things out. The facility has 140 certified beds in a building built for comfort and safety, offering various suites with different floor plans to fit individual needs, and the staff includes licensed nurses, therapists, caregivers, and physicians covering everything from wound care to eye care and dentistry. They help older adults who need assisted living, independent living, memory care, or even those who just want to drop in for short-term respite care, plus they've got 24/7 nursing care, rehabilitation services, home care, and continuing care for when needs change.

    Willowbend takes care of folks aged 55 and up and tries to meet needs with a home-like environment where people can join in social and educational activities, go to events, make friends, and find joy day to day, even while dealing with disabilities or diseases. They offer on-site therapy services and set up personalized care plans for each resident, talking about everything from companionship to daily activity help or intensive rehab for those who need it, always keeping in mind the values of respect and compassion. They also work to help residents stay well, offering transportation to appointments and making sure everyone has a way to get around town, and they've got meal and dining services, plus housekeeping, along with help for those who want to stay as independent as possible. There are ongoing group gatherings, and structured programs promote socialization and quality of life, so nobody has to feel left out or bored.

    Now, the place has been running for over twenty years and management-Alexark1 LLC since August 2022, with some indirect owners-works with Southern Administrative Services. The staff has a nurse turnover rate of 37.4%, which actually sits lower than the state average, though the nursing hours per resident don't quite meet the state average. Inspection reports have noted 22 total deficiencies in the past, including one connected to infection control, and the place has received citations for things like resident assessment, care planning, and accident hazards, so families should be aware of these documented concerns. Still, Willowbend maintains a team with over 100 years of combined service experience, and they hold tight to their core values of respect, compassion, integrity, stewardship, and excellence, aiming to meet every medical, social, and even spiritual need for those in their care. The place promotes a family-like feeling and really tries to help residents feel at home, offering long-term or short-term stays, group activities, and therapy-all in a modern, comfortable facility close to local Marion attractions and events.

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