Overall sentiment about The Groves is deeply polarized: many reviewers describe it as a warm, activity-rich community with exceptional individual staff members and strong rehabilitation services, while a significant number describe systemic problems that range from chronic understaffing to alleged abuse, neglect, pest infestations, and severe maintenance failures. The mixed feedback clusters into fairly consistent themes: staff and direct-care quality, facility condition and maintenance, dining and housekeeping, activities and amenities, management/administration, safety incidents, billing/fees, and variability tied to ownership or leadership changes.
Staff and care quality: Reviews repeatedly praise specific caregivers, CNAs, therapy staff, and some nurses as compassionate, attentive, and dedicated — families frequently call out individual employees by name and credit them with excellent personal care, good communication, and positive move-in experiences. That said, an equally large set of reviews detail chronic understaffing, missed medications, unresponsive call lights, long bathroom-assistance waits, and dire incidents including untreated pressure sores, infections (oral thrush, UTIs), and delayed emergency responses leading to hospitalizations or worse. Multiple reports describe alleged abusive behavior, threats, and neglect (e.g., residents left in soiled diapers, staff discouraging calling for help), and several reviewers assert that these problems are more pronounced at night or on certain shifts when agency staff or less experienced aides are used. The pattern suggests that care quality is highly variable and often depends on which staff are on duty, with some teams providing exemplary care and others failing basic standards.
Facilities and maintenance: The Groves is described often as an older campus with notable architectural positives — a large atrium, connected buildings via tunnels, expansive common space, and an indoor pool — that many families and residents enjoy. However, aging infrastructure and deferred maintenance are recurring complaints: broken washers, roof/ceiling leaks, mold issues, water pressure problems, potholes in parking areas, dead trees and unkempt exterior sites. Some apartments reportedly have no working air conditioning and have reached extreme heat levels (88°F cited), and multiple reviews mention pest problems ranging from bedbugs (with reported amenity closures) to roaches and mice. Accessibility problems are noted (steep hills, many stairs, limited ramps/elevator space), which can be a serious concern for residents with mobility limitations. Reviews indicate that maintenance quality varies by building and that several problems have persisted for months in some cases.
Dining, housekeeping, and amenities: The Groves offers many amenities that reviewers like: daily activities, exercise classes, crafts, a woodshop (sometimes closed), pool tables, movie rooms, and offsite outings. Therapy and rehab services receive particularly strong praise in multiple accounts for responsiveness and effectiveness. Dining experiences are highly inconsistent in the feedback — some describe the food as excellent, well-balanced and enjoyed by residents, while others report cold, late meals, Styrofoam service, canned or frozen menu items (corn, chicken nuggets), missing essentials (no milk, fruit, or salads), and food sometimes discarded as inedible. Housekeeping and laundry services also vary: some reviewers note daily cleaning or weekly laundry service, while others report broken machines, lost clothing, laundry items ruined, or housekeeping only every two weeks. The divergence suggests that service levels may differ between wings, floors, or under different management/staffing regimes.
Management, communication, and administration: A persistent theme is inconsistent or poor communication from management. Several reviews praise admissions staff as professional, compassionate, and helpful, and others indicate that recent management changes have sparked positive improvements. Contrastingly, many families report unresponsive administration, billing disputes, allegedly shady practices (missing mail, mishandled personal information, incorrect class dates, withholding belongings), and a perception that leadership emphasizes appearances for inspections over substantive resident care. Ownership changes are implicated by multiple reviewers as a turning point after which care and services declined. There are also repeated allegations of staff being told to limit certain resident comforts (e.g., air conditioning) and of punitive treatment or retaliatory communication when families complain.
Safety incidents and outcomes: Several reviews recount serious safety failures: falls, delayed or absent assistance during emergencies, untreated bedsores progressing to sepsis, and in a few reports, resident deaths believed to be linked to neglect. Multiple families describe having to transfer loved ones to hospital care, and some voiced that physical therapy stopped due to insurance issues, affecting recovery. There are also reported clinical care lapses (untreated sores, missed medications, catheter misuse). Given the number and severity of these reports, safety is a major concern for many reviewers.
Patterns and variability: A notable pattern is variability across time, units, and staff shifts. Many positive and negative reviews coexist, often from different timeframes or tied to management transitions. Some reviewers explicitly state that The Groves "was great in the past" but declined after an ownership change. Several praise recent leadership shifts that appear to be improving morale and operations. This suggests the facility may be in flux: pockets of very good care and programming exist alongside areas with pronounced deficiencies. Another pattern is that direct-care staff often receive better marks than administration or leadership, indicating that systemic issues (staffing levels, policies, maintenance budgets) rather than individual caregiver intent may drive many negative experiences.
Billing, fees, and value: Cost perceptions vary. Some reviewers view The Groves as affordable or offering good value compared with other local options. Others are frustrated by additional charges (e.g., fees for transportation or running errands), services being cut while fees rise, and unexplained billing disputes. Transparency around extra fees and service levels appears to be an area families should clarify before moving in.
Concluding assessment and practical considerations: The Groves offers many of the amenities families look for (pool, activities, therapy, continuum of care, pleasant common spaces) and has demonstrably excellent staff and therapy teams in many accounts. However, the frequency and severity of the negative reports — understaffing, inconsistent or negligent care, pest infestations, maintenance problems, and management failures — are substantial and recurring. Prospective residents and families should treat reviews as indicative of a facility with both significant strengths and serious risks.
If considering The Groves, visitors should: (1) conduct multiple tours including visits during evening and weekend shifts to assess staffing and conditions across times; (2) meet direct-care staff, nurses, and the on-call administration; (3) ask for recent state inspection reports, infection-control records, and pest remediation documentation; (4) verify policies on transportation, extra fees, laundry, and service levels in writing; (5) confirm response times for call lights and emergency protocols; and (6) inquire about turnover rates, staffing ratios by shift, and any recent management or ownership changes. These steps will help clarify whether the positive experiences reported outweigh the serious concerns many families described.
