The reviews of Pilgrim Rehabilitation and Skilled Nursing Center present a deeply mixed picture with sharply polarized experiences. Many reviewers praise the clinical rehabilitation services (PT/OT), citing motivating therapists and clear functional improvements. Specific staff members and roles are frequently commended — CNAs and RNs such as Katie, Caroline, Sarah and therapy staff like Trudy and Lena are called out for exceptional care, while social workers and case managers (notably Beth, Maria, the admissions director and Kane) receive repeated positive mention for helpful coordination and discharge planning. Several reviewers describe a welcoming front desk, engaging activities (cookouts, visits from a comfort dog), and successful transitions home, and some guests characterize the facility as home-like and deficiency-free with nonprofit reinvestment into care.
Contrasting sharply with those positive accounts are numerous, serious complaints about cleanliness, neglect, and inconsistent staffing. Multiple reviewers describe pervasive urine and feces odors, dirty carpets, cobwebs, used gloves and trash on floors, and items like mouse traps in rooms. Call bells being ignored, long response times, and reports of overnight staff sleeping contribute to an overarching concern about responsiveness and safety. There are alarming allegations of neglect resulting in dehydration, infections, unsterile catheter care, dangerously low blood pressure, and hospitalizations. Several reviews explicitly advise avoiding the facility because of these safety and hygiene issues.
Staff quality and behavior are highly variable by floor, shift and individual. A recurring pattern is that first-floor staff, some nurses and many therapists are praised for professionalism, warmth and effective care, whereas second-floor and night-shift care are repeatedly described as problematic, with rude or dismissive staff, inattentive aides, and lapses in basic personal care (e.g., patients left in soiled diapers, left in wheelchairs all day). Management and administration attract criticism for unprofessional conduct: gossiping about patients and families, whispering about residents, poor treatment of staff, and failure to address complaints. Several reviewers mention messages to social work or management being ignored, and one review notes the phone system being down for months, exacerbating family frustration and communication gaps.
Operational issues extend beyond staffing and cleanliness. Dining is a frequent source of dissatisfaction for many: meals are described as poor quality, overly salty, frozen or packaged, and not tailored to dietary needs (e.g., low-salt diets not respected, insufficient hydration options). Conversely, some reviewers laud the chef and food service for home-made food and cookouts, again underscoring inconsistent experiences. Environmental controls also vary — there are reports of overheated rooms (up to 84 degrees), inoperable sinks, and old wristbands left on for extended periods.
Communication, continuity of care, and equity concerns appear repeatedly. Families report poor notification after adverse events, staff not returning calls, transportation coordination failures that led to surprise ambulance bills, and language barriers that impaired care and contributed to perceived discrimination. Some reviewers accuse management of minimizing or covering up negative feedback. At the same time, others describe reliable case management, smooth coordination of medical supplies, and attentive updates from staff, which helped facilitate recovery and safe discharge.
Taken together, the reviews suggest Pilgrim can deliver high-quality rehabilitation and compassionate care under certain conditions — particularly with specific therapists, first-floor staff and proactive case managers — but the facility also shows troubling, recurrent operational and safety problems in other areas or shifts. Key risk signals to note are reports of hygiene and infection issues, ignored call bells and delays in basic care, management failures in addressing complaints, and wide variability between floors and shifts. For prospective residents or families, the most pragmatic approach is to verify up-to-date inspection records, ask directly about staffing levels and shift coverage, tour both floors and multiple rooms at different times of day, confirm therapy scheduling relative to insurance limits, and get names of the specific staff who will be caring for the patient. Those who prioritize strong, active PT/OT programs and have good experiences with named staff and case managers report positive outcomes; those who encounter understaffing, poor cleanliness, or unresponsive administration report dangerous and unacceptable care lapses.
