Good Samaritan Society – Ottumwa

    2035 Chester Ave, Ottumwa, IA, 52501
    4.1 · 25 reviews
    • Independent living
    • Assisted living
    • Memory care
    • Skilled nursing
    AnonymousLoved one of resident
    2.0

    Loving staff, but management negligence

    I'm torn: the staff were often loving, family-like and provided excellent physical and emotional care with lots of activities and comprehensive services. But chronic staffing and leadership problems left them overwhelmed - crowded dining/TV areas, missed meds and delayed rounds, ignored allergies and meals taken away mid-bite, patients left unclean - which felt like neglect. I moved my mom to a place that listened; I can't recommend this center unless leadership fixes staffing and safety.

    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

    • 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

    4.12 · 25 reviews

    Overall rating

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

      3.4
    • Staff

      3.8
    • Meals

      1.5
    • Amenities

      4.1
    • Value

      1.5

    Pros

    • Caring and compassionate staff
    • Family-like environment
    • Excellent physical care for some residents
    • Strong emotional support and attention
    • Comprehensive range of services (senior living, assisted, long term, rehab, memory care, hospice)
    • Engaging activities and projects to keep residents busy
    • Positive impact on residents reported by multiple reviewers
    • Opportunities for outings/shopping and social activities
    • High ratings from some reviewers (5-star feedback)

    Cons

    • Staffing shortages / overwhelmed care team
    • Inconsistent quality of care across residents
    • Reports of neglect and lack of responsiveness
    • Delayed or missed medication rounds and timing issues
    • Failure to address medical concerns or allergies (e.g., morphine)
    • Plate removal mid-meal for slow eaters / meal management issues
    • Crowded dining and TV rooms
    • Perceived poor leadership and management problems
    • Food quality complaints
    • Reports of residents left in soiled bedding or unattended

    Summary review

    Overall sentiment in these reviews is mixed, with a roughly even split between very positive personal experiences and serious negative complaints. Many reviewers praise the staff as caring, compassionate, and family-like, and they credit the facility with providing excellent physical and emotional care for certain residents. At the same time, a number of reviews describe significant lapses in basic care, inconsistency in staff responsiveness, and management or leadership problems. This produces a polarized picture in which some families are strongly satisfied while others report unacceptable care and ultimately moved their loved ones elsewhere.

    Care quality is a central, mixed theme. Positive accounts emphasize loving, attentive staff who treat residents like family, deliver excellent physical care, and provide emotional support. Several reviewers specifically called out comprehensive services (assisted living, long-term care, rehabilitation, memory care, and hospice) and gave high ratings for the overall care offering. Conversely, multiple negative reports describe neglectful situations: delayed or missed medication rounds, poor responsiveness from staff, residents left unmonitored or in soiled bedding, and medical concerns being ignored. One particularly serious allegation described an allergy to morphine being ignored. These negative experiences were significant enough in some cases that families relocated residents to other facilities where they felt concerns were heard and addressed.

    Staff and management emerge as a nuanced area. The staff themselves are frequently praised—reviewers repeatedly call them caring, kind, and impactful on residents' well-being. However, there are recurring complaints that the care team is overstretched or understaffed, which reviewers link to slower response times, missed checks, and inconsistent care. Several comments point to perceived leadership and management shortcomings, using phrases like "no leadership," "money grab," and "stopped caring," suggesting some families believe systemic or administrative problems contribute to care breakdowns. The combination of praised front-line staff and criticized management/staffing points to inconsistencies between individual caregivers' dedication and the facility's organizational support or resources.

    Facilities, dining, and activities show both strengths and weaknesses. On the positive side, reviewers note active programming: projects to keep residents occupied, shopping outings, and other engaging activities that enhance resident quality of life. Several reviewers explicitly enjoyed or observed active social opportunities. On the negative side, dining and communal areas are described as crowded, and there are direct complaints about food quality. Meal management issues are also cited — for example, plates being removed mid-meal for slow eaters — which compounds concerns about individualized care and dignity at mealtimes.

    Patterns and notable concerns: the reviews indicate inconsistent experiences that appear resident- and circumstance-dependent. Some families report outstanding, loving care and a five-star experience, while others report serious neglect and active safety/medical concerns. Frequently mentioned problem areas include staffing levels, medication timing, responsiveness, and management responsiveness to family concerns. Positive themes focus on compassionate staff, comprehensive services, and engaging activity programming. The balance of comments suggests that outcomes at this facility may depend heavily on staffing levels, specific care-team assignments, and management responsiveness. Prospective residents and families should be aware of both the strong positive reports and the serious negative accounts when evaluating the facility.

    Location

    Map showing location of Good Samaritan Society – Ottumwa

    About Good Samaritan Society – Ottumwa

    Good Samaritan Society - Ottumwa sits on a quiet 75-acre campus at 2035 Chester Ave in Ottumwa, Iowa, surrounded by tall, old trees and wildlife that make it peaceful for older adults who want a bit of quiet, and what you get here really comes down to having choices about how you want to live as you get older, whether that means living on your own in a maintenance-free twin home, joining others in one of the 36 senior apartments, or getting some extra help in one of the 24 assisted living apartments, and if your health needs change, the place can provide more care since there's everything from assisted living and independent living to nursing home, skilled care, memory care for people with Alzheimer's or other memory loss, and even special units with controlled settings for people who tend to wander or need lower stimulation, plus respite care for family caregivers who need a break, and home care and hospice services for those who want to stay at home or are nearing the end of life, not to mention they have things like diabetic care, non-ambulatory, and incontinence care too, just covering all bases. The care is rooted in Christian values, but the staff pays close attention to what each person wants, trying to support a feeling of community, independence, and dignity, really looking after both social and physical well-being, and they've been part of Ottumwa for over 50 years so they've seen about every situation you can imagine.

    The facility carries a mix of short- and long-term care, so someone coming out of a hospital stay can use their rehabilitation center for therapy, either inpatient or outpatient, and older folks who just want to live without the work of a big house can join the 55+ community, with common rooms for activities, devotional times, indoor and outdoor spaces including walking paths, gazebos, and patios, and they arrange leisure activities on and off campus with transport to stores, movies, parks, and restaurants for those who want to keep busy or see other parts of the town, which can make life a little easier or give a sense of freedom. The campus has walk-in accessible, single-level layouts, and disaster safety features, making things safe and easy to move around for people who use walkers or wheelchairs. There are nurse and therapy services, nutritious meal plans cooked with good ingredients, and there's a dedicated, professional staff who tries to match services to what each resident needs, which could be a little help or round-the-clock skilled nursing. The Good Samaritan Society - Ottumwa shares connections with the larger Good Samaritan Society network and holds to Christ-centered, resident-focused principles that have shaped its decades of work in the community. The grounds offer plenty of spots to sit and watch nature, and the staff can help families set up tours or answer questions, with resources updated often and a system that tracks which parts of the facility have spots open. There's no push towards fancy tech like telehealth, but the basics are well covered, with therapy, meals, security, and plenty of staff who speak English. The campus aims to support a full life, no matter how much help a person needs.

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