The reviews for Great Lakes Healthcare Center present a highly mixed and polarized picture with recurring and serious themes. On the positive side, multiple reviewers single out individual staff members and departments for strong, compassionate care: specific nurses and aides were praised by name, therapy staff received consistent compliments for motivation and skill, and several reviewers described clean, bright rooms, an engaging activities program, helpful admissions personnel, and an effective rehab/therapy wing. Housekeeping and maintenance receive favorable comments in many of the positive accounts, and a number of families expressed gratitude for staff who prevented errors or provided exceptional personal attention.
However, the negative reports are frequent, detailed, and severe. A dominant theme is neglectful care: many reviews describe long call-light delays (sometimes 30+ minutes), residents left soiled or sitting in waste for hours, failure to reposition or change bandages, missed or delayed medication (including pain medication and insulin), and a general pattern of ignored medical orders. Reviewers allege understaffing (CNAs reported as 1 per 18–20 residents in some accounts), aides on breaks leaving residents unattended, and nurses seen at stations while residents waited. These staffing deficits are frequently connected by reviewers to deteriorations in residents’ conditions, including bedsores, infections, pneumonia, internal bleeding, falls leading to fractures, ICU transfers, and even deaths attributed by families to neglect or delayed care.
Facility cleanliness and safety concerns recur across many negative reviews. Complaints include unsanitary rooms and common areas (feces left in toilets for days, vomit and residue on wheelchairs, dirty sticky floors, food and blood stains, exposed wires, strong odors), inconsistent laundry service (no clean sheets or missing clothing), and kitchen/dining issues (cold or tasteless food, insufficient portions, dessert shortages, and no diabetic meal options). Several reviewers reported hazardous lapses such as oxygen left off, call lights hidden, and staff appearing to prioritize socializing (phone/video chatting) over resident care. There are also allegations of staff smoking on site and residents using drugs, adding to concerns about supervision and safety.
Behavioral and professional conduct is another major theme. The reviews portray a bifurcated workforce: while many comments celebrate caring, professional individuals, a substantial number describe rude, dismissive, or unprofessional conduct by CNAs and nurses (laughing at patients, refusing to provide names, being short with families, or searching deliveries). Multiple reviewers reported theft of personal items, refusal of administrators to investigate complaints, revolving or unresponsive administration, and situations where promised follow-up never occurred. Families recount being excluded or restricted, accusations without proof, and mishandled trespass or visitation orders, which exacerbated distrust between families and management.
Clinical oversight and quality of care receive mixed but often critical mention. While physical therapy and some occupational therapy staff are praised, other accounts describe therapy that caused pain or contributed to falls. Medication management problems are repeatedly cited—missed doses, disorganized medication systems, insulin not administered on time resulting in dangerously high blood sugar, and at least one account of a near-missed medication error averted by an attentive nurse. Several reviewers also state that medical staff failed to heed chest pain or other acute complaints, and that transfers to hospitals were delayed or not communicated to families, sometimes with tragic outcomes.
Activities and social engagement appear to be strong in parts of the facility and for certain residents—bingo, festive programs, and engaged residents are reported—yet reviewers also note gaps: dialysis patients reportedly have limited appropriate activities, some wings feel gloomy or noisy at night, and social services responsiveness is inconsistent (some staff helpful, others stop returning calls). Food and nutrition emerge as an area of significant variability: some reviewers praise fresh food and adequate portions, while many others describe cold, low-nutrient meals and failures to meet diabetic or therapeutic dietary needs.
Taken together, the reviews indicate a facility with pockets of competent and compassionate caregiving, an active therapy department, and some well-maintained areas, but also with widespread, serious operational failures affecting safety, hygiene, staffing, and clinical care. The most frequent and consequential complaints involve neglect (unattended residents, missed medications, delayed responses), unsanitary conditions, and an often-unresponsive leadership that fails to resolve complaints. These patterns appear repeatedly enough to suggest systemic problems rather than isolated incidents, although the presence of consistently praised staff members shows that positive care can exist there as well.
For families considering this facility, the reviews recommend exercising caution: visit unannounced, observe different shifts (including nights), ask specific questions about staffing ratios, call-light response times, medication administration protocols, diabetic meal options, infection-control measures, and policies on visitor access and complaints. Request to meet the nursing leadership and social services, get names of primary caregivers, and inquire about recent state inspection or violation history. The overall picture from reviewers is one of inconsistency with serious risks reported by multiple families; while some loved ones received good care, enough reviews describe harmful neglect and unsafe conditions that prospective residents and families should perform thorough, targeted due diligence before choosing Great Lakes Healthcare Center.
