Overall sentiment: Reviews of Hillcrest Village are highly mixed, showing a strong divide between highly positive accounts—particularly around therapy and certain caregiving staff—and serious negative reports that point to lapses in hygiene, medication management, staffing, and communication. A significant number of reviewers praise the therapy/rehab teams and named frontline caregivers for compassionate, personalized care and successful recoveries. At the same time, multiple reviewers detail troubling safety, sanitation, and management issues that, in several cases, had severe consequences for residents.
Care quality and clinical issues: Therapy and rehabilitation are among the facility's most consistent strengths—numerous reviewers describe OT/PT and cardiac rehab as excellent, patient-focused, and instrumental to recovery. Conversely, clinical care is inconsistent in nursing and CNA performance. Recurrent complaints include missed or delayed medications (including an account of pain medication withheld for 14 hours), misdocumented meds, and medication administration errors. Several reviewers reported adverse clinical outcomes attributed to these failures: development of UTIs, pneumonia, bedsores, skin tears during transfers, and in the worst cases, delayed escalation to hospitals and subsequent deaths. These reports suggest variability in clinical competence and adherence to protocols across shifts and staff members.
Staff performance and training: Many reviews single out specific employees for exemplary behavior—names such as Melissa, Diane, Hannah, Olivia, Nikki, Jenna, and others are repeatedly praised for kindness, responsiveness, and comforting family members. Similarly, multiple reviewers emphasize that nurses and therapists went 'above and beyond,' offering individualized care and strong communication. However, this positive view is balanced by numerous reports of unprofessional, rude, or insensitive staff (e.g., Tina, Ebony in reviewers' accounts), CNAs lacking proper supervision or training, and staff who appear burnt out or inattentive. Call-light nonresponse, long waits for assistance with toileting or bedpans, and instances of staff engaging with phones rather than patient care are cited repeatedly. This inconsistent staffing performance points to staffing shortages, turnover, or inadequate training/supervision.
Facility condition, cleanliness, and infection control: Cleanliness reports are polarized. Some reviewers describe rooms as clean and well-maintained, while others report serious sanitation problems: persistent unpleasant odors, mold under beverage coolers, unsanitary beverage/ice areas, reused washcloths, feces left on a bathroom door handle for extended periods, and dusty/moldy air conditioning units. These sanitation concerns are coupled with infection-control worries raised by reviewers who saw UTIs and pneumonia develop during stays. Shared bathrooms and shared showers also raise privacy and infection transmission concerns. Taken together, these accounts point to inconsistent housekeeping standards and potential lapses in infection-prevention practices.
Safety and environment: Several reviews raise concrete safety issues: a disruptive resident on the rehab floor who was allegedly not receiving rehab and causing sleep disruption; missing or misidentified mobility aids (walkers); failures in temperature control (reports of room heaters broken for two months with rooms around 60°F); and missed medical transport appointments (including dialysis). There are also allegations of lost medications and belongings and billing/insurance confusion or disputes. These matters collectively signal problems in operational reliability and resident safety oversight.
Dining, activities, and resident life: Many reviewers commend activities and entertainment—movies, bingo, themed events, and community engagement are frequently mentioned as positives that contribute to a welcoming atmosphere. A number of reviewers also praise the meals and dining staff, while others find the food bland or of poor quality. The presence of meaningful activities and a social environment is a recurring positive, but dining and housekeeping consistency appear uneven.
Management, communication, and administration: Opinions about leadership and administration are mixed. Several reviews highlight responsive management and an 'open door' policy where issues were resolved promptly, and families felt heard. Conversely, other reviewers accuse administration of misinformation or deception—particularly around insurance, billing, and care decisions—and describe poor follow-through, lack of callbacks, or dismissive treatment. This inconsistency suggests variability in managerial performance or differences in how individual cases are handled.
Patterns and takeaways: The dominant pattern is a facility with clear strengths in rehabilitative services and pockets of highly compassionate staff who provide excellent care, especially in therapy and end-of-life situations. However, these positives coexist with recurring, serious negatives: inconsistent nursing/CNA care, lapses in hygiene and infection control, medication and documentation errors, staffing shortages and burnout, and occasional administrative failures. These problems are not isolated minor complaints but include safety events (pressure injuries, infections, missed transports, and reported deaths following neglect claims) that should be carefully weighed by prospective residents and families.
Recommendation-oriented closing: For those seeking short-term rehab or strong therapy services, Hillcrest Village may offer excellent PT/OT and some standout caregivers—many reviewers credit the therapy teams with effective, compassionate rehabilitation. For long-term placement or for residents with complex nursing needs or infection risks, families should conduct thorough inquiries: ask about staffing levels by shift, infection-control procedures, medication administration protocols, incident reporting, how shared rooms/bathrooms are managed, and how management handles complaints. Visit at varied times (including evenings/nights and weekends), speak with therapy, nursing leadership, and recent families, and request documentation about training, staffing ratios, and infection-control audits. The mixed nature of these reviews indicates that experiences can vary widely depending on unit, shift, and individual caregivers; due diligence and direct conversation with staff and administration are essential before placement.
