The reviews for Harborview Decatur are highly polarized, with a strong split between accounts of excellent, compassionate care and serious, potentially dangerous lapses. Many reviewers praise individual staff members and departments—particularly social workers, certain nurses and CNAs, and the rehabilitation team—highlighting cases of successful therapy, attentive caregiving, strong intake coordination, and effective discharge planning. Positive reports describe a clean, bright facility in some areas, nutritious meals, helpful housekeeping and laundry, and good coordination with hospitals or the VA.
Conversely, a substantial portion of reviews describe severe and systemic problems. Recurrent themes include foul odors (urine and fecal), poor cleanliness, linens not being changed, and rooms described as dingy or sticky. Clinical lapses are prominent: multiple reviewers report missed medications and medication errors (notably insulin administered without glucose checks), tube-feeding mistakes, delayed urine testing leading to untreated UTIs, and other errors that resulted in hospitalizations, ICU stays, and even death. There are alarming accounts alleging cover-ups or withheld records after these incidents.
Staffing and professionalism appear inconsistent. Several staff members receive effusive praise (social workers, some nurses, the rehab team, named individuals), but many reviews describe rude, unprofessional, or inattentive personnel—especially on night shifts. Short-staffing and overwhelmed employees are frequently cited as contributors to missed ADLs (bathing, toileting assistance, teeth brushing), residents left in soiled clothing or diapers, ignored call buttons, unattended residents in hallways, and delayed or missed medical appointments. Reviewers repeatedly report that care quality can be excellent under certain staff but precipitously poor under others, and that high performance is sometimes limited to the intake period.
Safety and security concerns are significant in multiple accounts. Theft of residents’ packages and personal items is alleged, with some reviews citing staff arrests for theft, drug possession, and extortion. Other safety issues include falls, bedsores, lack of bed railings, filthy medical equipment (e.g., oxygen tubing), and instances where prescriptions or home-health referrals were not forwarded—leading to gaps in care. These reports, combined with statements calling for the facility to be closed, indicate serious trust and oversight problems for some families.
Dining, therapy, and activities also show mixed experiences. Positive reviewers report plentiful, nutritious meals, snacks, and a robust activities program; negative reviews describe cold or missing meals, inappropriate menu choices for medical diets (e.g., bacon/ham for hypertensive patients), and therapy that is insufficient in duration or inconsistent after the intake phase. Several reviewers praised specific therapy staff for meaningful recovery outcomes, while others called therapy a “joke” or too limited to be effective.
Management and communication are another area of divergence. Some families found administrators approachable, communicative, and effective at coordinating care and discharge. Others report poor responsiveness, unreachable staff, delays in payment, withholding of records, and uncooperative social services. There are also reports of administrative failures such as prescriptions not being sent to pharmacies, referrals not forwarded, and inadequate follow-up with physicians.
Overall, Harborview Decatur’s reviews paint a picture of a facility with bright spots—notably committed social workers, certain nurses/CNAs, and a capable rehab team—but also recurring and sometimes severe failures in clinical care, cleanliness, safety, and management. The pattern suggests significant variability depending on staff, shift, and possibly specific units within the building. Given the number of reports citing life‑threatening medication errors, neglect, and theft, families should approach placement decisions with caution: verify current state inspection reports and complaint history, ask for recent staffing rosters and incident records, request to meet key caregivers, and seek references concerning continuity of care and how the facility handled any serious prior incidents.
