On With Life Long-Term Skilled Care

    1002 W Washington Ave, Polk City, IA, 50226
    3.3 · 6 reviews
    • Assisted living
    • Memory care
    • Skilled nursing
    AnonymousCurrent/former resident
    2.0

    Good food caring staff unsafe

    I had a mixed stay: the facility is very clean, the food and activities (especially music and outdoor time) are excellent, and many aides and volunteers were warm and caring. However, staffing and nursing follow-through were inadequate - call lights were slow, mold in an air conditioner wasn't addressed, an aide bruised a resident, a roommate was left on the floor for 25 minutes, and there were hospitalizations including sepsis/dehydration. I appreciate the caring staff and great meals, but urgent improvements in safety and response times are needed.

    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

    3.33 · 6 reviews

    Overall rating

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

      3.0
    • Staff

      3.7
    • Meals

      4.5
    • Amenities

      3.3
    • Value

      3.3

    Pros

    • Exceptional skilled nursing care reported by some residents
    • Friendly, caring and positive staff
    • Residents showing improved condition
    • Clean facility
    • Meals generally satisfactory; some reviews call food excellent
    • Engaging activities, notably musical programs
    • Volunteer involvement providing purpose and meaning
    • Access to outdoor fresh air for residents
    • Medicaid rooms slightly larger than others

    Cons

    • Aides alleged to have bruised a resident
    • Serious medical events reported (hospitalizations, sepsis, dehydration)
    • Mold in air conditioner reported and not addressed
    • Slow response to call lights and delayed assistance
    • Incident of roommate left on floor for an extended period (25 minutes)
    • Perceived insufficient staffing levels
    • Nursing staff sometimes not following through
    • Inconsistent quality of care across stays and shifts

    Summary review

    The reviews paint a mixed but detailed picture of On With Life Long-Term Skilled Care. Several reviews emphasize strong clinical outcomes and high-quality skilled nursing for some residents: reviewers explicitly note exceptional skilled care, improvements in residents’ conditions, and being impressed with the staff’s clinical competence. These positive assessments are reinforced by comments that the facility is very clean and that residents are generally happy with meals and the environment.

    Staffing and interpersonal care receive largely positive mention alongside some concerning negative reports. Multiple reviewers describe staff as friendly, caring, and heartwarming; volunteers are appreciated and bring additional purpose and meaning, and many residents enjoy strong, positive interactions with aides and activity staff. At the same time, there are serious criticisms about individual staff actions and reliability: one review alleges aides bruised a resident, others describe slow or inconsistent nursing follow-through, and some note that care quality varies across shifts. These contrasting points suggest staff competency and compassion are perceived by many, but there may be gaps in supervision, training, or consistency that lead to isolated but significant adverse events.

    Dining and programming are clear strengths for many residents. Several summaries call the food excellent or at least satisfactory, and activities—particularly musical programming—are highlighted as "incredible" and enjoyable. Reviewers also appreciate access to outdoor fresh air and meaningful volunteer-run programs, which contribute positively to resident quality of life and social engagement.

    Facility and environmental observations are mostly favorable, with the facility described as very clean and Medicaid rooms noted as slightly larger and meeting expectations. However, there is a specific environmental concern flagged: mold in an air conditioner that reportedly was not cleaned. That single, concrete report raises an infection-control and maintenance issue that the facility should address promptly, given the vulnerability of the population.

    Safety, response times, and clinical risk emerge as the most serious pattern of negative feedback. Multiple reviewers report slow call-light responses and delayed assistance; one alarming account describes a roommate remaining on the floor for about 25 minutes. Another cluster of feedback details severe clinical outcomes—hospitalizations and at least one report of sepsis and dehydration—that reviewers attribute to care failures. Together these reports point to potential problems with staffing levels, escalation procedures, monitoring, and timely clinical response. Even if these reports represent a minority of experiences, they are significant because they relate to resident safety and medical outcomes.

    Overall sentiment is mixed: many reviewers praise the staff, cleanliness, food, and activities and report positive experiences and clinical improvement, while a subset of reviews raises serious concerns about safety, consistency of care, environmental maintenance, and staffing adequacy. The pattern suggests the facility can and does deliver high-quality, compassionate care for many residents, but there are notable, potentially serious lapses that warrant investigation and corrective action. Prospective residents and families should weigh both the positive consistency in day-to-day life and the reported incidents when evaluating the facility. For current residents and families, these reviews indicate it would be prudent to ask facility leadership about incident reporting, staffing ratios, response-time metrics, infection-control practices (including mold remediation), and specific measures taken to prevent recurrence of the adverse events described.

    Location

    Map showing location of On With Life Long-Term Skilled Care

    About On With Life Long-Term Skilled Care

    On With Life Long-Term Skilled Care in Polk City, Iowa, offers long-term nursing services with a special focus on people who have brain injuries, neurological disorders, stroke, spinal cord injuries, tumors, aneurysms, or anoxia, and it's one of the few places in the area that really digs deep into neurorehabilitation, with both inpatient and outpatient programs. The facility has 40 certified beds and usually about 39 residents a day, which means most folks have company but the place doesn't get too crowded, and residents have private bathrooms, air conditioning, and their own rooms, with staff providing 7.5 nurse hours per resident every day, which matters for folks who need help bathing, dressing, moving, or with medication management, and those who have diabetes can get special diets as well.

    Residents can spend time outside in the small park area or garden, use the fitness room, visit the beauty salon, read in the library, or join in activities like fitness programs, planned day trips, gaming, and social group events that the community and residents themselves organize, and in the dining room, staff prepare meals that can meet special dietary restrictions. Some folks need mental wellness support, which is offered through special programs, and there's a variety of therapy options including neuropsychological services and therapies for brain injury and stroke, plus there's outpatient therapy, respite care, day programming, and independent living services, and for those who can't get around easily, the facility arranges transportation for doctor visits and other community outings.

    The care here is designed to help people recover physical and mental skills, with a team of clinicians who know about concussion, Parkinson's, and other complex conditions, and the skilled nursing unit provides round-the-clock supervision by trained staff with a 24-hour call system. The place is nonprofit, managed by On With Life Extended Services and On With Life Inc, with Jennifer Lewis and Jeanette Shelton in charge, and it's part of a larger organization that's been around since 1987, known for brain injury services and based out of Ankeny, Iowa.

    Rooms are fully furnished and the staff handles housekeeping, plus there's Wi-Fi, cable TV, a computer center, and a restaurant-style dining area, which makes the facility comfortable enough for folks who need extended care. The Polk City location, which recently moved to 1002 W. Washington Ave., is holding an open house with tours and a ribbon cutting on July 25 so people from the community can see what goes on there.

    Now, the place has had some inspection problems, with seven reported deficiencies in recent inspections, mostly related to infection control and making sure food comes from approved sources; specifically, there were issues with keeping up with infection prevention standards and nutrition rules, so that's something to ask about if you're considering care there, but the facility does have services and features that support both very frail folks and those needing rehabilitation between hospital and home. On With Life Long-Term Skilled Care also connects to telehealth services and has a strong reputation for meeting the medical, social, spiritual, recreational, and therapy needs of its residents, and you can read more about it on their website.

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