Overall sentiment across the reviews for Rising Star Personal Care Home is highly mixed, with strong positive experiences reported by many families and sharply negative accounts from others. Multiple reviewers praise the facility for being clean, modern, and home-like; they note friendly, caring staff, good meals, convenient location, and useful amenities such as a large recreation room. Several reviews highlight long-tenured, professional caregivers and a hands-on owner/executive director who runs a tight ship. In these accounts residents were happy, well-fed, socialized, and families were satisfied with tours, communication, and the general environment.
However, an equally prominent set of reviews raises serious concerns that cannot be overlooked. The most alarming and recurrent theme is unsafe medication practices: reports describe dropped medications, unsanitary pill handling, medications being administered by cooks or handed directly from staff hands rather than following secure medication administration protocols. These accounts suggest weak or absent medication controls and inconsistent adherence to clinical standards, which constitutes a major safety risk for residents.
Staffing and training emerge as another major dividing theme. Several reviewers describe hardworking, competent staff and good management, while many others report untrained or undertrained staff, rude behavior, favoritism, and significant variability between weekday and weekend staff quality. Understaffing and overwork are mentioned multiple times — managers described as overburdened, staff working long hours, and periods when few staff are onsite. This inconsistency contributes to lapses in care quality, poor responsiveness, and in some cases neglectful conditions (residents unattended, common areas dark or depressing).
Facility condition is described inconsistently across reviews. Numerous comments speak to a spotless, modern facility with clean dining areas and restrooms, positive exhaust systems, and well-sized rooms. Conversely, other reviewers report filthy walls, dirty carpets, unpainted or unclean areas, an abandoned vehicle, an inoperable community van, and visible signs of decline in parts of the property. The coexistence of these divergent reports suggests variability over time or between different wings/shifts of the facility rather than a uniform standard.
Dining and nutrition are frequently discussed and are another area of mixed feedback. Many families praise the food — describing it as good, very good, or even five-star — and note efforts to offer choice. Yet some reviewers find the food poor and criticize the meal service as inadequate; one report explicitly noted no dietitian on staff. Combined with medication and staffing concerns, inconsistent meal quality points to operational variability.
Activities and social engagement are commonly mentioned as limited or intermittently offered. Several reviews report regular activities such as Bingo and group gatherings several times a week, while others emphasize a lack of activities, residents sitting alone watching TV, or activities curtailed by COVID restrictions. Visiting policies also vary, with some reviewers noting limited visiting hours or special permission required for night visits, which has negatively affected family access in some cases.
Management and communication show mixed competence. Positive reviews highlight engaged leadership, good tours, and clear explanations. Negative reviews describe an executive director perceived as clueless or absent owner involvement, poor communication about incidents (like leaks), lack of brochures, scheduling confusion, and calls from families for formal inspections. This inconsistency suggests turnover or episodic leadership issues that affect overall quality and family trust.
Patterns and recommendations: the reviews collectively indicate that Rising Star can and does provide high-quality, compassionate care in many instances — particularly where management and staffing are stable and engaged. Yet recurring, serious problems (unsafe medication handling, poor training, understaffing, inconsistent management, and variable facility maintenance) are significant and repeat across multiple reports. Key areas for targeted improvement would be implementing strict medication administration protocols and audits, consistent staff training and supervision, addressing staffing levels and weekend coverage, standardizing cleanliness and maintenance across all areas, formalizing visiting and communication policies, and adding dietitian oversight or improved meal planning. Addressing these systemic gaps would reduce the substantial variability in resident experience reflected in the reviews and increase overall safety and family confidence.
