Overall sentiment is sharply mixed, with a clear split between reviewers who describe Highlands Senior Living Cartersville as a warm, family-like community with dedicated caregivers and those who report serious lapses in management, hygiene, medication safety, and communication. Many reviewers emphatically praise the caregiving staff — using words like compassionate, caring, tireless, and attentive — and call out specific employees who provided exceptional support during transitions, hospice coordination, and end-of-life care. Multiple accounts describe a clean facility, home-cooked meals with choices, engaging activities (when staffed), and a Victorian, cozy atmosphere that residents and families find welcoming. Emergency placement and short-notice admissions were noted as strengths, with staff and management often responsive and helpful in arranging placements and working through payment/Medicaid matters.
Contrasting those positive reports are a substantial number of serious complaints centered on management and systemic issues. Several reviewers describe the manager and some administrators as condescending, confrontational, or difficult to communicate with; other reports accuse management of misrepresenting job duties, sudden firings, and age discrimination toward younger workers. Multiple comments point to a rapid decline in care quality after an ownership change, with reviewers saying the facility went from "decent" to "poor" within months. Communication breakdowns with families are repeatedly mentioned, as are inappropriate or overly restrictive visitation policies during COVID or other times.
Care quality and resident hygiene emerge as a recurring and significant concern for a subset of reviewers. Reports include residents with dirty clothing, mismatched garments, unbrushed hair, dirty nails, and poor dental hygiene; some reviewers said residents appeared "pitiful." There are also troubling accounts of medication administration failures — missed vitamins, unreported or missing medications — and improper follow-up on injuries that in at least one case led to hospitalization for swelling/cellulitis. Housekeeping lapses were described, including rooms not being cleaned for weeks. These problems were often linked by reviewers to staffing shortages: staff described as overworked, stretched thin, and sometimes treated poorly by management, which reviewers believe contributes to missed care and high turnover.
Activities and social programs are another mixed area. Several family members and residents praise the activities director(s) and holiday parties, daily exercise routines, and social engagement that make the community feel lively and joyful. However, other reviewers report that activities have been "cut drastically," leaving residents with little stimulation. This inconsistency aligns with the staffing theme: when activity staff are present and engaged (names like Kelly and others were praised), programs are strong; when staffing is limited, activities suffer.
Facility and safety notes are similarly dual-natured. The building itself receives many compliments — described as gorgeous, Victorian, with a grand staircase and cozy common areas — and many reviewers felt it was a "home away from home." At the same time, practical concerns were raised: small bathrooms, a two-inch threshold creating a walker-turning risk, and an uncovered patio with no green outdoor space. Meal quality is mostly praised as home-cooked with choices, but at least one reviewer reported food not suiting their relative’s tastes.
Patterns and takeaways: The dominant pattern is polarization. When staffing, leadership, and activities are functioning well, residents and families report high satisfaction, cleanliness, compassionate care, and smooth transitions. When staffing is thin and management is perceived as poor or disengaged — particularly after reported ownership changes — problems cluster: hygiene neglect, missed medications, poor communication with families, decreased activities, and even clinical consequences requiring hospitalization. Prospective families should weigh this variability carefully: ask targeted questions about current management stability and staffing levels, observe housekeeping and resident grooming during visits, inquire about medication administration processes and incident reporting, confirm availability and content of activities, and verify outdoor and safety features for mobility needs. Also ask about recent ownership or leadership changes and request references from current families for the most recent months given reports of rapid decline in some periods.
In short, Highlands Senior Living Cartersville has many vocal supporters who value the staff’s compassion, the homelike environment, and the responsiveness in emergencies. At the same time, there are serious and recurring red flags about management behavior, staffing levels, resident hygiene, medication safety, and recent declines tied to ownership/leadership changes. These mixed signals suggest a facility that can offer excellent, family-oriented care in the best circumstances but may be vulnerable to lapses when leadership or staffing stability falters. Families should perform up-to-date, specific checks on the points above before making placement decisions.
