Overall impression: Reviews for Hickory Ridge of Temperance are mixed but heavily polarized around two consistent themes: a core of very positive experiences focused on compassionate staff, strong rehab services, engaging activities, and a clean facility — and a set of serious negative experiences centered on inconsistent care, staffing shortages, safety incidents, and opaque billing. Many families and residents praise individual employees (nurses, aides, therapy staff and activities staff by name) and describe a welcoming, home-like environment with good therapy outcomes and active programming. However, numerous other reviews report neglect, poor responses to call lights, medical monitoring failures, lost or mishandled personal items, and significant billing surprises. The result is a facility that can deliver excellent care in some circumstances (especially rehab/PT-oriented stays) but also shows patterns of dangerous inconsistency that merit caution.
Staff and caregiving: The most frequently lauded aspect across positive reviews is the frontline staff — nurses, CNAs, and therapists — who are described as caring, compassionate, respectful and sometimes extraordinary (specific staff such as PT/OT and activity directors receive repeated praise). Several families report marked functional improvement after physical therapy and appreciate attentive, on-time medication and feeding-tube care. Conversely, many reviews describe staffing problems: short-staffed floors, long waits for assistance (blankets, water, toileting, pain meds), ignored call lights, and at least a few instances of dismissive or rude nursing behavior. Reviewers repeatedly contrast excellent rehab staff with slower or unresponsive non-rehab caregivers, indicating variability between departments and shifts. There are multiple reports of neglectful care — prolonged bed confinement (22 hours), failure to assist residents to dress or use the restroom, and inadequate follow-through on requests — which families identified as safety risks and led some to move residents out.
Clinical quality and safety: Rehabilitation services (PT/OT) receive consistent positive feedback for improving mobility and facilitating home discharge. At the same time, there are serious clinical concerns in several reviews: post‑operative wound infections that reviewers attribute to lack of monitoring, development of bed sores, and emergency ICU admissions following alleged inadequate care. Some reviews report deaths or rapid decline after admission, while others recount compassionate end-of-life care. These divergent reports highlight inconsistent clinical oversight and monitoring. Families should note both the facility’s demonstrated capability to provide strong rehab care and the nontrivial number of reports alleging significant lapses in nursing surveillance and medical follow-through.
Dining and daily living: Meal experience is another area of mixed feedback. Multiple reviewers enjoy appealing meals, special events (Thanksgiving, live music, ice cream), and alternatives for residents, while many others cite cold food, poor choices, salty or inappropriate meals for restricted diets, and incorrect orders being served. Laundry and personal belongings are also frequent pain points: delays in returning clothing, lost hearing aids or dentures, and inconsistent linen changes were reported. Cleanliness and maintenance are often praised — many reviewers describe the facility as neat, odor-free, and hotel-like — but some note uncomfortable double rooms, dark rooms without windows or AC, and occasional delays in housekeeping tasks.
Management, communication, and billing: Management and social work receive mixed reviews. Some families describe caring and communicative management, responsive administrators, and helpful social workers; others report poor communication, unreturned calls, inconsistent social work involvement, refusal to accommodate safety concerns (e.g., overnight stays), and abrupt visitation restrictions during closures. Billing and financial transparency emerge as a clear concern: several reviewers reported unexpected high bills, out‑of‑network charges, confusing statements, and a perception that financial motives influenced care decisions. The facility is also described as expensive by multiple reviewers, with at least one estimate over $10,000 per month.
Patterns and recommendations: The reviews present a pattern of strong pockets of care (notably rehab/PT, certain nurses/aides, and activities) alongside significant variability that leads to serious negative outcomes for some residents. Positive comments focus on dignity, friendliness, effective therapy, and an engaging environment; negative comments emphasize staffing shortages, delayed responses, safety lapses, poor meal service, lost items, and opaque billing. Given this mix, prospective residents and families should perform targeted due diligence: visit multiple times and during different shifts, ask about nurse-to-resident ratios and overnight coverage, review incident and staffing records if possible, request explicit billing breakdowns (in-network vs out-of-network providers), confirm diet accommodations and laundry procedures in writing, and ask for references from recent rehab discharge families. Families who need intensive, reliable rehabilitation services and value activities and a pleasant facility may find Hickory Ridge delivers excellent outcomes; families prioritizing consistent 24/7 nursing attention and flawless personal-care follow-through should proceed cautiously and verify current staffing and management practices before committing.
