Lamoni Specialty Care

    215 S Oak St, Lamoni, IA, 50140
    3.9 · 14 reviews
    • Assisted living
    • Memory care
    • Skilled nursing
    AnonymousLoved one of resident
    3.0

    Caring staff, but management problems

    I'm impressed with the caring, hardworking staff and a clean, well-kept facility - residents clearly get excellent, resident-first care. However, management and staffing are inconsistent (overworked CNAs, unresponsive admin, supply/housekeeping shortfalls), and I experienced medication mishandling involving nursing leadership. I recommend the frontline team but urge caution until admin and staffing issues are resolved.

    Pricing

    Schedule a Tour

    Amenities

    Healthcare services

    • Activities of daily living assistance
    • Assistance with bathing
    • Assistance with dressing
    • Assistance with transfers
    • Medication management
    • Mental wellness program

    Healthcare staffing

    • 24-hour call system
    • 24-hour supervision

    Meals and dining

    • Diabetes diet
    • Meal preparation and service
    • Restaurant-style dining
    • Special dietary restrictions

    Room

    • Cable
    • Fully furnished
    • Housekeeping and linen services
    • Kitchenettes
    • Telephone
    • Wifi

    Common areas

    • Beauty salon
    • Dining room
    • Garden
    • Outdoor space
    • Small library

    Community services

    • Move-in coordination

    Activities

    • Community-sponsored activities
    • Resident-run activities
    • Scheduled daily activities

    3.86 · 14 reviews

    Overall rating

    1. 5
    2. 4
    3. 3
    4. 2
    5. 1
    • Care

      4.1
    • Staff

      4.3
    • Meals

      3.9
    • Amenities

      3.9
    • Value

      3.9

    Pros

    • Clean, well-kept facility
    • Dedicated and caring staff
    • Friendly staff
    • Resident-first mindset
    • Outstanding care
    • Highly recommended by multiple reviewers
    • Well-managed facility
    • Knowledgeable and trustworthy administration (per some reviewers)
    • Hardworking employees who go above and beyond
    • Happy, well-cared-for residents
    • Good workplace environment / wonderful co-workers
    • Deficiency-free (no regulatory deficiencies reported by some reviewers)

    Cons

    • Low staffing levels
    • CNAs overworked and stretched thin
    • Scheduling problems and staffing shortages
    • Director of Nursing (DON) overworked or neglecting duties
    • Administrative unresponsiveness (per some reviewers)
    • Insufficient supplies
    • Poor housekeeping reported by some reviewers
    • Minimal kitchen staff
    • Corporate hiring or management issues
    • Allegations of medication neglect and cover-up
    • Sketchy or questionable management practices suggested by some reviewers
    • Potential safety and medication-handling concerns

    Summary review

    Overall sentiment in the reviews for Lamoni Specialty Care is mixed but leans positive in terms of direct resident care and the general atmosphere. Many reviewers praise the facility as clean, well-kept, and well managed. Multiple comments emphasize that residents appear happy and well cared for, and several reviewers explicitly recommend the facility. There is a consistent theme of dedicated, caring, and hardworking staff who go out of their way for residents; some reviewers describe the staff as the best and highlight a resident-first mindset. Positive remarks also extend to the administration in several reviews, where administration is described as knowledgeable, caring, and trustworthy. The facility is also noted by some as being deficiency-free and as providing outstanding care, which supports the positive impressions from numerous reviewers.

    Care quality and staffing emerge as two of the most prominent themes, but they present a contrast. On the positive side, reviewers repeatedly state that care is excellent, staff are attentive, and the nursing home environment is supportive. On the negative side, multiple reviewers raise concerns about low staffing levels and CNAs being overworked. Scheduling problems and staffing shortages are cited, and there are complaints that the DON is overworked and may be neglecting duties. These staffing-related issues could materially affect continuity of care and staff workload, and several reviews indicate that these problems are linked to corporate hiring challenges. In short, while day-to-day caregiving is praised, reviewers also warn that limited staffing and scheduling strain are recurring issues.

    Facility condition, housekeeping, and dining/kitchen support are areas with divergent feedback. Many reviewers describe the facility as clean, well-maintained, and orderly. However, some reviews specifically call out poor housekeeping and report insufficient supplies. There are also comments that kitchen staffing is minimal, which could impact dining services and resident meal experiences. This creates a mixed picture: the environment is often described as clean and pleasant, but there are isolated or recurring operational deficiencies around housekeeping, supplies, and kitchen staffing according to some reviewers.

    Management and corporate oversight are portrayed inconsistently across the reviews. Several positive reviews praise administration as caring, knowledgeable, and trustworthy. At the same time, other reviews paint administration and management in a negative light—describing admin as unresponsive, alleging corporate hiring problems, and even reporting serious accusations such as medication neglect, pill discarding, and attempts to cover up incidents involving the DON. These are serious allegations and appear in a subset of reviews; they create a sharp contrast with the many positive endorsements and raise questions about transparency, incident handling, and oversight. Because these allegations are severe, they should be treated as red flags that warrant verification rather than taken at face value.

    Patterns and notable takeaways: the strongest and most consistent positives are the perceived compassion and dedication of frontline staff, the generally clean and pleasant facility environment, and multiple endorsements recommending the facility. The strongest negatives cluster around staffing—both numbers and scheduling—operational support such as supplies and housekeeping, and a small but serious group of allegations related to medication management and possible cover-ups involving management. The coexistence of glowing reviews and severe allegations suggests polarized experiences: many families and employees appear very satisfied, while others have encountered substantial problems.

    Given the mix of praise and concerning reports, prospective residents and families should verify current conditions directly. Suggested verification steps include: asking about current staffing ratios (particularly CNAs and nursing coverage), querying the DON and administration about turnover and scheduling practices, reviewing recent state inspection and deficiency reports, asking how medication errors and incidents are reported and investigated, and touring to observe cleanliness, meal service, and staffing during different shifts. In summary, Lamoni Specialty Care receives strong praise for attentive, caring staff and a clean, well-run environment from many reviewers, but persistent staffing issues and a small number of serious management/medication-related allegations introduce important caveats that warrant further inquiry before making a placement decision.

    Location

    Map showing location of Lamoni Specialty Care

    About Lamoni Specialty Care

    Lamoni Specialty Care sits at 215 S Oak St in Lamoni, Iowa, and has room for up to 43 residents in its skilled nursing building, which is designed to feel home-like and comfortable even as it offers different levels of care, including assisted living, skilled nursing, rehabilitation, memory care, and hospice. The facility provides both short-term and long-term skilled nursing, has a team of more than 45 caregivers, and gives around-the-clock supervised care with services always personalized for each person. There's a focus on meeting the health needs of residents through medication management, nutrition and dietary support, and telehealth services, as well as palliative and hospice care when needed, and the staff try to support residents' physical, mental, and spiritual well-being as part of a more holistic approach. You'll find typical amenities of assisted and independent living here, with efforts to make the setting warm and nurturing, so there are daily programs, social and educational activities to help people stay active and engaged. There's specialized care for people living with Alzheimer's or dementia, plus options for rehabilitation therapy using current methods, and the organization works hard to treat everyone with respect and dignity. Lamoni Specialty Care is managed by Health Alliance Medical Plans and is part of Care Initiatives, a large nonprofit group in Iowa that runs many skilled nursing and long-term care centers. It's also connected with Lamoni Nursing & Rehab Center. The community accepts Medicare, Medicaid, and offers certified Medicaid and HUD assistance at Lamoni Assisted Living, serving residents from Decatur County and nearby. The facility participates in programs through the Iowa Health Care Association, and uses enrollment, MDS support, and group purchasing from IHCA's Provider Solutions. Office hours are Monday to Friday, 8 am to 5 pm. The staff works to provide quality, compassionate care in a way that helps each resident and their family feel supported.

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