The review corpus for Lakewood Post Acute and Rehabilitation is highly polarized: a substantial number of reviews describe excellent rehabilitation outcomes, compassionate care teams, and a pleasant facility, while an equally sizeable portion report serious lapses in basic nursing care, safety, and communication. The most consistent positive theme is the strength of the therapy program. Multiple reviewers praised physical therapy, occupational therapy, and speech therapy as goal-driven, professional, and effective — with measurable improvements in mobility, gait, activities of daily living, and specialized therapy (e.g., MS-focused swallowing and vocal exercises). Many families credited therapy staff with helping patients regain independence, correct walker technique, and return home safely. These therapy successes are often paired with praise for specific therapists and therapy leadership, and several reviewers explicitly called the rehab services “top-notch” or “best in the area.” Successful discharge planning and arranged home therapy were also frequently cited as positive outcomes.
Facility and amenities receive similarly mixed-but-often-positive comments. Numerous reviewers described the campus as clean, modern, and hotel-like with spacious single rooms, large bathrooms/walk-in showers, in-room refrigerators, TVs, and comfortable family accommodations (pull-out beds). Social programming — including Bingo, Wii bowling, cooking groups, live music, and therapy-dog visits — is repeatedly noted as an asset that contributes to residents’ morale. Several reviewers also appreciated flexible meal accommodations, availability of snacks and water, and occasional live entertainment. Where management and front-desk staff are engaged and reachable, reviewers reported a reassuring, organized experience and easy communication.
However, the dominant negative themes are serious and recurring. Understaffing is arguably the single most frequently cited operational problem, with reviewers describing long delays in answering call buttons, insufficient bathroom and shower assistance, and markedly reduced responsiveness overnight and on weekends. Those delays are tied directly to safety incidents: falls, patients being left unattended in showers or PT areas, and emergency room transfers. Multiple reports describe rough or neglectful handling by CNAs, pressure sores or wound infections due to delayed care, catheter-related infections, and at least a few accounts that link lapses in care to hospital readmissions and, in extreme cases, death. These are not isolated mentions; many reviewers explicitly warned others to avoid the facility or reported filing complaints with state agencies.
Medication management and clinical-care consistency are other major concerns. Reviews include accounts of missed doses (including critical agents such as blood thinners and insulin), wrong medications or dosages, medication being kept in informal staff stashes, and records that do not match actual administration. Pain was sometimes inadequately managed, and several reviewers noted clinicians failed to escalate or contact physicians/neurologists when needed. Conversely, some reviews report thoughtful and accurate medication handling and regular physician check-ins — highlighting a stark inconsistency across shifts and staff.
Communication and management practices are described as uneven. Some reviewers praised responsive administration, helpful case managers, and smooth admissions/discharge coordination, while many others described ghosting case managers, billing and Medicare disputes, lack of family updates, poor handoffs, and unhelpful or confrontational social workers. Reviewers also reported lost clothing or personal items, unitemized or incorrect billing, and an absence of a clear orientation for families (for example, not being told about visiting/phone policies or patient schedules). New ownership or administration changes (mention of ProMedica/PowerBack) appeared in reviews as a potential inflection point — some reviewers said care and management improved after the change, while others either saw no improvement or had negative experiences under the new regime.
Environmental and infection-control issues appear intermittently but are consequential when they occur. While many reviews call the facility clean and well-maintained, there are multiple, specific complaints about soiled linens, urine odors, rodents or cockroach sightings, PPE lapses (gloves/masks not used), and poor housekeeping on certain shifts. These reports compound concerns about clinical oversight. Kitchen and dining comments are similarly mixed: several reviewers praised generous portions and tailored diets, while others experienced poor meal delivery, cold or repetitive food (daily eggs or oatmeal), miscommunication between nursing and kitchen, or missed trays.
A clear pattern emerges that experience at this facility is highly variable and often depends on timing (day vs. night, weekday vs. weekend), the particular unit or team, and the specific staff members on duty. Where therapy teams, certain nurses, CNAs, or administrators are engaged and consistent, reviewers describe outstanding rehabilitative care and compassion. Where staffing is thin or individual clinicians are less competent or empathetic, reviewers report basic care failures, safety incidents, and stressful family involvement to advocate for the patient.
Implications for prospective patients and families: if therapy and rehab outcomes are the primary goal, this facility has many strengths and success stories; a family should verify the specific therapy team and confirm active involvement in discharge planning. At the same time, families should be vigilant about nursing coverage and direct-care staffing levels, ask specific questions about call-button response times and night/weekend staffing, confirm protocols for medication administration and wound care, and establish clear lines of communication with case management and administration. Documented complaints about medication errors, missed hygiene care, and safety incidents suggest families should remain engaged, check on medication administration, and escalate quickly if basic needs (toileting, bathing, wound dressing, pain control) are not being met.
Overall, Lakewood Post Acute and Rehabilitation appears capable of delivering excellent rehabilitative services and has many staff who are committed and skilled, but these strengths are offset by repeated and serious operational inconsistencies around staffing, nursing care, medication management, cleanliness, and communication. The experience appears highly dependent on when and where a patient is admitted and which staff are on duty. Families and providers should weigh the strong therapy reputation against the documented risks and should perform careful, specific due diligence (including asking about current staffing, recent regulatory actions, and how the facility handles medication safety and fall prevention) before choosing this facility for post-acute or skilled nursing care.
