Crystal Heights Care Center

    1514 High Ave W, Oskaloosa, IA, 52577
    2.9 · 12 reviews
    • Assisted living
    • Memory care
    • Skilled nursing
    AnonymousLoved one of resident
    3.0

    Compassionate care, problematic administration issues

    My experience was mixed. The frontline staff, therapists and nurses I dealt with were compassionate, skilled, long-tenured and restored my mom's strength - clean facility, good meals, meaningful activities and daily MD/RN presence gave our family real peace of mind. However, admissions and administration felt opaque and money-driven, calls and emails often went unanswered, and I encountered dismissive behavior and troubling, conflicting accounts around a resident's fall/death. I'm grateful for the caregivers but would caution others to watch for serious administrative and care-coordination issues.

    Pricing

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    Amenities

    Healthcare services

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

    Healthcare staffing

    • 12-16 hour nursing
    • 24-hour call system
    • 24-hour supervision

    Meals and dining

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

    Room

    • Air-conditioning
    • Cable
    • Fully furnished
    • Housekeeping and linen services
    • Kitchenettes
    • Private bathrooms
    • Telephone
    • Wifi

    Transportation

    • Community operated transportation
    • Transportation arrangement
    • Transportation arrangement (non-medical)

    Common areas

    • Beauty salon
    • Computer center
    • Dining room
    • Fitness room
    • Gaming room
    • Garden
    • Outdoor space
    • Small library
    • Wellness center

    Community services

    • Concierge services
    • Fitness programs
    • Move-in coordination

    Activities

    • Community-sponsored activities
    • Planned day trips
    • Resident-run activities
    • Scheduled daily activities

    2.92 · 12 reviews

    Overall rating

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

      3.7
    • Staff

      3.9
    • Meals

      4.5
    • Amenities

      2.9
    • Value

      1.0

    Pros

    • Compassionate and caring nursing staff
    • Skilled clinical care with daily doctor and RN presence
    • Effective physical and occupational therapy services
    • Warm nursing team and long‑tenured local employees (no temp agencies)
    • Strong communication and proactive administrative support (reported by some families)
    • Clean and orderly environment (reported by some reviewers)
    • Meaningful worship/spiritual services
    • Well‑balanced meals and good dietary accommodations
    • Activities that meet emotional and physical needs
    • Relocation assistance and support for family peace of mind
    • Family confidence and expressions of gratitude

    Cons

    • Reports that nurses ignored residents and were dismissive
    • Staff seen on phones and inattentive to residents
    • Conflicting or poor communication around serious incidents (including a relative's death)
    • Resident falls reported, with complications leading to death according to reviewers
    • Allegations of corruption, financial exploitation, and false imprisonment (from some reviewers)
    • Insensitivity from some doctors and nurses (as reported)
    • No response to calls and emails; difficulties with admission contacts
    • Described as a 'rip‑off' or 'not recommended' by some reviewers
    • Reports of dirty conditions and bugs

    Summary review

    Overall sentiment from the collected review summaries is strongly mixed, with a substantial number of reviewers praising the facility’s clinical strengths and staff compassion, while a smaller but vocally negative group reports serious concerns about neglect, communication failures, and even allegations of malfeasance. The dominant positive themes emphasize high‑quality hands‑on care: multiple reviewers highlight skilled nursing, daily physician or RN presence, and effective physical and occupational therapy that restored strength and functionality. Several families report that the nursing team is warm and attentive, that employees are long‑tenured and locally hired (not temp agency staff), and that administrative staff were proactive and helpful during relocation and transition periods. These positive reviews often mention clean, orderly surroundings, meaningful worship services, well‑balanced meals with dietary accommodations, engaging activities that address emotional and physical needs, and an overall sense of safety and peace of mind for residents and families.

    Staffing and interpersonal care are a repeated strength in many accounts. Phrases such as "compassionate," "kind and caring," and "prioritized well‑being" appear frequently, and gratitude from families is a common theme where experiences were positive. Therapy services are repeatedly singled out as effective and consequential in improving residents’ mobility and independence. The combination of clinical presence (daily doctor/RN) with attentive nursing and activity programming forms the backbone of the positive narrative and is tied directly to family confidence and reports of good outcomes.

    Counterbalancing these positives are a number of serious negative reports that cannot be ignored. Several reviews allege that nurses ignored residents, displayed a dismissive attitude, or were distracted (for example, on phones). There are troubling descriptions of miscommunication around a relative’s death, conflicting accounts provided to family members, and at least one report of a resident experiencing two falls and later dying of complications. A subset of reviewers uses very strong language — alleging corruption, false imprisonment, money‑driven behavior, and describing the operation as a "shameful charade" — which, while presented as reviewers’ perceptions, represent severe reputational issues and point to potential systemic or interpersonal failures. Other pragmatic complaints include lack of responsiveness to calls and emails, difficulties with admission contacts, and descriptions of operations as "strange/unclear." There are also isolated mentions of dirty conditions and bugs.

    Taken together, the reviews suggest a polarized experience: many families report excellent, compassionate, clinically strong care that provides peace of mind; a smaller but highly negative subset reports neglect, poor communication, safety incidents, and allegations of misconduct. This pattern can reflect uneven performance across shifts, units, or individual staff members, or it may indicate changes over time (for example, differences between reviewers who experienced care earlier versus more recently). It also underscores the importance of verifying current conditions directly rather than relying on a few reviews alone.

    If using these reviews to inform decisions, focus questions and checks on the specific areas of divergence: confirm current staffing levels and whether physicians and RNs are on site daily as reported; ask about fall prevention protocols, incident reporting, and recent safety outcomes; request evidence of infection control and housekeeping standards given the cleanliness/bugs discrepancy; clarify communication policies (how families are notified of incidents and who handles admission inquiries); and ask about administration responses to complaints and how the facility investigates serious allegations. In summary, the facility receives strong praise for clinical care, therapy, meals, activities, and compassionate long‑term staff from multiple reviewers, but there are notable and serious negative reports about responsiveness, safety incidents, communication breakdowns, and allegations of unethical behavior that warrant direct verification before making a placement decision.

    Location

    Map showing location of Crystal Heights Care Center

    About Crystal Heights Care Center

    Crystal Heights Care Center sits in Oskaloosa, Iowa and you'll find a place where people get help with everyday living and long-term care needs, with skilled nursing staff available around the clock. The care center covers short-term rehabilitation if someone's recovering and hoping to go back home, as well as long-term stays when more support is needed. There's help for those with memory loss, with a wanderguard system in place for safety, and staff give care for people with dementia among the rest of the residents. The rooms have pull cords and nurse call buttons, so help is easy to reach, and every room's got its own bathroom, too. They don't let folks use electric wheelchairs, mainly for safety reasons. Hospice and respite services are offered for people who need them. Dental, pharmacy, portable x-rays, labs, and even podiatry care are available on site, and therapy services like speech, occupational, and physical therapy take place in a modern therapy gym inside the building, which has a new 14-bed rehab wing in addition to the regular 78-bed nursing facility. Everyone works together-staff, residents, and families-and some staff members have worked here for over 15 years, so there's a familiar face for many. The care plans get tailored to each person, and they can bring the doctor to your bedside when needed. Crystal Heights Care Center accepts Medicare and Medicaid and has a presence on Facebook, so folks can keep up with what's going on if they want to.

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