Overall sentiment across the reviews for Wilshire At Lakewood Rehab Center is deeply mixed and highly polarized. A substantial portion of reviewers praise the facility’s therapy team, many direct-care staff, and the physical campus — noting bright rooms, an attractive courtyard/garden, and helpful admissions personnel. Those positive accounts frequently describe skilled, attentive therapists who produced measurable recovery results, compassionate CNAs and aides, smooth admissions experiences, and a number of named staff and administrators who were praised for responsiveness and personal attention. Several families reported spotless rooms, strong hospice support, and administrators who addressed concerns quickly and implemented visible improvements (for example, new flooring and leadership changes that led to better processes).
However, an equally large and often more urgent body of negative reviews alleges systemic problems that affect resident safety, hygiene, and basic care. The most recurrent clinical and safety themes are understaffing, delayed or unanswered call lights (sometimes 1–1.5 hours), medication administration errors and missed doses, and unsecured narcotics or medications left in rooms. Reviewers document missed vital-sign checks and weigh-ins, inadequate night checks, residents experiencing dehydration, UTIs progressing to serious infections or sepsis, and delays obtaining essential equipment like air mattresses or electric beds. These clinical lapses are frequently linked by families to hospitalizations and worse outcomes.
Housekeeping, infection control, and environmental safety concerns appear repeatedly. Many reviewers describe filthy carpets (stained, ripped, patched with duct tape), rooms that smell of urine, feces, or sewage, mold and pest sightings (roaches, bed bugs), trash left uncollected, and bedding not changed for days or weeks. Some report raw sanitation issues in kitchens and refrigerators. At the same time others describe clean and well-maintained areas, suggesting an uneven standard of cleanliness across wings or between self-pay and Medicaid sides.
Food service and dining are another area of mixed feedback. Several reviews commend staff for feeding and comforting residents and say meals were good; however, many more describe cold, late, or missed meals, lack of dietary variety, repetitive or poor-quality food, missing beverages like coffee or decaf, and problems with special diets or heart-healthy options. Reports of missing supplies (toilet paper, bedside liners) and disruptions to laundry or promised services further point to operational strains.
Staffing and management themes are central to the pattern of complaints. Multiple reviewers cite heavy reliance on agency/contracted nurses, high staff turnover, and instances of rude or unprofessional nursing staff. While many direct-care staff are singled out as kind and hardworking, management and some nursing leaders (DON/ADON/administrator) are criticized as dismissive, slow to act on grievances, or deceptive, with several accounts claiming grievances were not followed up and some alleging false reporting by leadership. Conversely, there are also numerous reports praising specific administrators and leaders (named individuals) who allegedly improved care, reduced agency staff, and enhanced responsiveness — underscoring inconsistency in leadership performance over time or across shifts.
Safety, security, and regulatory concerns appear in multiple severe allegations: unsecured entry codes taped to doorpads, after-hours access vulnerability, alleged elder abuse incidents, theft of residents’ belongings, and at least one account of a resident left outside in extreme heat. Several reviews expressly recommend avoiding the facility and even calling for investigations, while others share glowing endorsements and would recommend placement without reservation. This stark divergence suggests highly variable performance that may depend on unit, shift, payer type (private-pay vs Medicaid), or timing related to management changes.
Therapy services and activities represent one of the clearest bright spots: many reviewers consistently praise the therapy department as top-quality and instrumental to recovery. Activities programming, compassionate one-on-one attention by certain staff, and amenity offerings (salon, garden) also receive positive mentions. Yet the availability and consistency of those services can be uneven; some families report therapy was limited, skipped, or self-guided due to staffing constraints.
In summary, Wilshire At Lakewood exhibits a bifurcated profile in these reviews. Strengths include an attractive facility, pockets of excellent clinical therapy, numerous compassionate direct-care staff, and positive admissions experiences for some. Significant and recurring weaknesses include staffing shortages, medication and safety lapses, poor and inconsistent housekeeping, unaddressed management issues, communication failures, and reports of potentially serious neglect or abuse. The pattern suggests that while excellent care is possible there — particularly in rehab and when experienced staff and responsive leadership are present — there are systemic operational risks and inconsistent standards that families should evaluate carefully. For prospective residents or families, key due diligence should include: asking specifically about staff-to-resident ratios and turnover, verifying medication administration and narcotics control protocols, confirming housekeeping and infection-control procedures, checking recent inspection reports, testing the call bell response times during a tour, and requesting names of consistent clinical staff who will manage the resident’s care. If considering placement, follow up on current leadership, recent corrective actions, and whether improvements (e.g., new flooring, reduced agency staffing) have been sustained over time.
