Overall impression: Reviews for Benedictine Living Community–New Brighton are strongly mixed, with a clear and consistent pattern: the facility is widely praised for its therapy and rehab services and for many individual staff who provide outstanding, compassionate care; however, there are also recurrent, serious complaints about nursing consistency, basic daily care, food quality, communication, and staffing that materially impact resident safety and family trust. Many families and residents report excellent short-term therapy outcomes, while others describe severe lapses in long-term nursing care.
Care quality and clinical safety: The most positive and consistent theme is the strength of the therapy teams (PT/OT/SLP/dysphagia). Multiple reviews state therapy is excellent, frequent (sometimes twice daily), and results in measurable functional improvements and successful discharges home. Conversely, nursing care and clinical oversight are reported as inconsistent. Numerous reviews cite slow or absent responses at night and on weekends, delayed or missed medications and treatments, medication errors (including incorrect discharge medications), and minimal physician presence. More serious clinical safety concerns appear repeatedly: reports of wound-care failures, pressure sores, sepsis risk, inadequate catheter care, delayed emergency response requiring 911, and infectious outbreaks (e.g., Norovirus). These incidents suggest variability in clinical competence and supervision and flag that long-term or higher-acuity residents may be at risk.
Staffing, communication and culture: Staffing variability is a dominant theme. Daytime staff and specific employees are frequently singled out for compassionate, professional care; families often praise front-desk staff, social workers, particular nurses and therapy personnel. However, multiple reviews identify significant problems: high staff turnover, understaffing (especially nights/weekends), call bells unanswered or disabled by aides, aides scolding or yelling at residents, and some aides and nurses described as abusive or unprofessional. Communication gaps are common — between shifts, between disciplines (nurses/physicians/therapy), and with families (missed appointment entries, unclear care plans, poor complaint follow-up). Several reviewers reported retaliation or dismissive responses after raising concerns. Language barriers and masking were mentioned as contributing to difficulties in clear communication. The overall pattern is a facility where many individual staff excel but systemic staffing and communication shortcomings create inconsistent resident experiences.
Dining and nutrition: Dining receives mixed-to-poor reviews overall. Many reviewers describe the dining room as bright and well-staffed with good presentation, and some residents enjoy meal variety and social dining. However, a substantial number of reviews criticize food quality: meals described as tasteless, cold, tepid soup, spoiled items (milk), undercooked meat, carbohydrate-heavy menus with limited protein and cardiac-friendly options, repetitive menus that haven’t changed, weak supplement flavors, and inconvenient meal times (late brunch). For residents with specific dietary needs (cardiac, dysphagia, diabetics), reviewers reported deficiencies in appropriate meal selections. In short, dining presentation and social meal environment are strengths in places, but kitchen execution and nutrition adequacy are frequent concerns.
Facilities, housekeeping and environment: Many reviews praise the facility’s cleanliness, bright dining area, wide hallways, large rooms, and pleasant grounds. Housekeeping often receives high marks for fresh smells and clean common spaces. At the same time, there are recurring, but less frequent, reports of sanitation lapses — sticky floors in resident rooms, spilled water left in the cafeteria, urine smell in rooms, dirty drapes on arrival — and an older building with aesthetic areas that could use attention. Privacy concerns arise around shared bathrooms, door handling and situations where dignity was compromised.
Activities, spiritual care and social environment: Activity programming is a clear positive. Reviewers note regular activities, bingo, bowling, hymns, church services and inclusive activity programming that engage memory-care residents. Spiritual care and social work services are often cited as strengths, with families appreciating the emotional and spiritual support during transitions.
Administration, responsiveness and follow-up: Administrative responsiveness is reported variably. Some families praise administration for being supportive and responsive, with clear incident/change communication and newsletters. Others report that complaints were not adequately followed up, that there was retaliation after raising issues, or that executive contacts did not resolve safety or care problems. Documentation errors, missed appointment entries and discharge planning mistakes indicate gaps in process and oversight.
Patterns and recommendations: Two clear patterns emerge. First, Benedictine New Brighton provides an excellent environment for short-term, intensive rehabilitation — therapy teams, equipment and discharge-focused care are consistent strengths. Second, long-term, high-acuity, wound-care or medically complex residents face greater risk because of inconsistent nursing oversight, staffing shortages (particularly at night/weekends), communication breakdowns and sporadic lapses in basic care and dignity. Families should be vigilant about advocacy, medication reconciliation at discharge, wound monitoring, and tracking response times for calls and treatments. Specific caution is advised regarding dining for residents with strict nutrition needs, laundry and personal belongings management, and privacy/dignity practices.
Bottom line: If the primary need is short-term restorative therapy and a resident values a strong rehab team and active programming, many reviewers recommend Benedictine Living Community–New Brighton. If longer-term skilled nursing, wound management, consistent night/weekend care, or reliable clinical oversight are the priorities, the reviews indicate considerable variability and a nontrivial risk of inadequate care in some cases. Prospective residents and families should assess staffing patterns for the specific unit and shifts, request written care plans and medication reconciliation, verify wound-care protocols and follow-up, and identify a family advocate to help ensure continuity and safety of care.
