Overall sentiment in the reviews for Brickyard Healthcare - Merrillville Care Center is highly polarized: multiple families and residents report excellent, compassionate care, especially around rehabilitation and customer service, while a substantial number of serious complaints describe neglect, poor clinical care, and major communication and cleanliness failures. Positive reviewers emphasize effective therapy progress, pain control, attentive CNAs and nurses, smooth admissions and transfers (several singling out a staff member named Jemai), and proactive administrative responsiveness. These positives are reported with specific named staff and administrators praised for easing transitions and building trust, and several reviewers described the facility as beautiful with happy residents.
At the same time, numerous reviews recount severe problems that raise safety and quality-of-care concerns. Complaints include ignored patient needs (instances of residents vomiting unattended, soiled diapers left for hours, mouth/face hygiene not performed for multiple days), mishandling or discarding of personal belongings, and reports of urine and diarrhea left in or around toilets and strong odors. Multiple reviewers specifically report that nurses were unavailable and CNAs were performing tasks beyond their role or that promised nursing care was not delivered. There are also allegations of poor wound care and other clinical failures, with at least one reviewer stating the patient died under care and others saying their family member was nearly harmed or ‘‘almost killed’’ by lapses. These accounts point to inconsistent clinical oversight and potentially inadequate staff training or supervision.
Communication and management experiences are mixed. Several reviewers praise proactive administrators (Kathy, Rhyle, Bianca) and clear, prompt email or admission communication, frequently noting that individual staff members were caring and responsive. Conversely, other families describe unresponsive phones, unanswered calls, no voicemail, long callback times, miscommunications about insurance, and promises not kept regarding discharge or care plans. Staffing concerns recur throughout the negative reports — staff described as overworked, unavailable, or indifferent — which aligns with reported long waits for assistance (call button delays of 15 minutes or more) and long IV wait times. This variability suggests that care quality is highly dependent on the shift, unit, or specific employees on duty.
Facility-level themes are also split. Some reviewers say the building is attractive and mostly clean, while others describe disgusting conditions in rooms and bathrooms, strong urine odors, and sanitation lapses. Environmental and comfort issues were called out as well, including lack of air conditioning in a room and a loud cleaning machine running late at night that disturbed residents. Dining complaints (cold food) and failures to provide sponge baths or basic hygiene were also mentioned by multiple reviewers.
Notable patterns: praise is frequently associated with specific staff members and with rehab/therapy services; serious complaints often involve hygiene, missed nursing care, and communication failures. The presence of both strong positive accounts (including recommendations, successful rehab, and effective hospice integration) and very serious negative accounts (including alleged clinical neglect and mishandling of personal items) indicates inconsistent performance. Families considering this facility should take both sides into account: ask specific questions about staffing levels, nursing oversight, call-button response times, hygiene protocols, and the role of named staff/administrators who have been singled out for strong performance. The reviews suggest that outcomes may depend heavily on which staff members are assigned and how well-staffed and supervised the unit is during a particular stay.
