The reviews for La Bella of Edwardsville present a highly polarized and complex picture: many reviewers praise specific staff and therapy services, while a substantial number report serious lapses in basic nursing care, safety, and management. A clear and repeated positive thread is the quality of therapy services — physical and occupational therapists receive strong and consistent praise for helping residents recover, become more alert, and regain function. Likewise, several reviewers identify individual nurses and CNAs as compassionate, organized, and attentive; named staff members receive strong commendations, and some families report excellent short-term rehab outcomes and an overall sense that their loved ones were treated with dignity during those stays.
However, these positive experiences sit alongside frequent and recurring negative reports that point to systemic problems. Understaffing is the most commonly cited concern — reviewers describe CNAs and nurses being overworked, slow to answer call lights, and sometimes unable to provide routine care such as toileting, timely medication administration, or showers. Multiple accounts indicate long wait times for assistance, unattended personal-care needs, soiled bedding and clothing, and only infrequent showers (reports of only once or twice in many days). Staff responsiveness appears highly inconsistent: while some shifts are described as professional and responsive, others are characterized as inattentive, rude, or at times hostile to residents.
Medication and clinical-safety issues are frequent themes. Reviewers describe missed or delayed medications, inconsistent pain medication dosing, a lost medication order, and even incidents where oxygen was off for hours. There are reports of more serious clinical problems potentially linked to care deficits, including UTIs and sepsis attributed to inadequate hydration, rehospitalizations after falls, misdiagnoses (e.g., feet rash misidentified), and an attempted IV hookup in a dining area that raises infection-control concerns. Several accounts mention improper handling of gowns/ports, bedwetting left on mattresses without proper disinfection, bruises without explanation, and skin damage from restraint or improper seating. These reports create a pattern suggesting lapses in infection control, wound/tube care, and basic nursing surveillance for vulnerable residents.
Facility and environment feedback is mixed. Some reviewers praise the facility as clean, pleasant, and well-managed with a nice outdoor patio and a comfortable appearance. Others report bad odors, spoiled food, dirty floors, and cramped, overcrowded rooms — particularly concerning are the frequent mentions of very small two-person rooms and a building design that reviewers say is not suited to current occupancy. Dining experiences are similarly split: a subset of families enjoyed meals and reported excellent dining service, but many more report cold food, small portions, poor serving methods (community-style serving seen as inadequate), limited beverage choices, and meal timing problems. Activities and social programming are described as insufficient for more mobile residents, although some residents are social and engaged when staffing and programming permit.
Management, administration, and communication are persistent weak points in many reviews. Complaints include poor communication with families (not being notified on transfers or changes), billing and payment disputes (including shift-pay authorization problems), difficulty reaching admissions and administrative staff, and perceptions of manipulative or deceitful behavior around Medicaid bed assignments and paperwork. Several reviewers mention frequent leadership turnover, unresponsiveness to concerns, and a need for greater transparency; a few describe escalating complaints to state oversight agencies. On the other hand, some families report productive meetings with the administrator and nursing director and say issues were addressed when raised.
Overall sentiment is polarized and situational: many reviewers recommend caution. The most consistent strengths are high-quality therapy services and several compassionate, skilled individual staff members. The most consistent and serious weaknesses are chronic understaffing, inconsistent nursing care, medication and safety lapses, poor dining and personal-care practices, and management/communication failures. Given the breadth and severity of the reported safety and neglect concerns (falls, infection, missed oxygen, missed meds, rehospitalizations), prospective residents and families should be cautious, ask targeted questions about current staffing levels (including night/weekend coverage), infection-control policies, call-light response times, and supervision of agency staff. Visiting in person to observe mealtimes, staff-resident interactions, room size/cleanliness, and therapy sessions, and confirming how complaints are handled and documented, would help families make a more informed decision. Additionally, the consistently positive reports about therapy suggest La Bella may provide good outcomes for short-term rehab when staffing and management align, but the numerous serious allegations about basic nursing care and safety warrant careful scrutiny before placement.
