Southern Ocean Center

    1361 NJ-72 West, Manahawkin, NJ 08050
    • Assisted Living
    • Memory Care
    • Skilled Nursing

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    Amenities

    Healthcare services

    • Activities of daily living assistance
    • Assistance with bathing
    • Assistance with dressing
    • Assistance with transfers
    • Coordination with health care providers
    • Medication management
    • Mental wellness program

    Healthcare staffing

    • 24-hour call system
    • 24-hour supervision

    Meals and dining

    • Diabetes diet
    • Meal preparation and service
    • Special dietary restrictions

    Room

    • Cable
    • Fully furnished
    • Housekeeping and linen services
    • Kitchenettes
    • Telephone
    • Wifi

    Transportation

    • Transportation arrangement (medical)
    • Transportation to doctors appointments

    Common areas

    • Beauty salon
    • Dining room
    • Garden
    • Outdoor space

    Community services

    • Move-in coordination

    Activities

    • Community-sponsored activities
    • Scheduled daily activities

    Reviews

    4.55·(148)

    Overall rating

    1. 5
    2. 4
    3. 3
    4. 2
    5. 1
    • Care

      4.3
    • Staff

      4.5
    • Meals

      3.0
    • Amenities

      3.5
    • Value

      2.5

    Pros

    • Skilled physical, occupational, and speech therapy
    • Compassionate and dedicated nursing and aide staff
    • Knowledgeable medical providers (nurse practitioners, physician assistants, physicians)
    • Supportive social-work and admissions teams
    • Clean, well-maintained common areas and grounds
    • Accessible garden and outdoor courtyard for visitors
    • Engaging activities and seasonal facility decor
    • Prompt and welcoming front-desk and administrative reception
    • Successful post-acute rehabilitation and discharge planning
    • Private rooms and comfortable linens in many units
    • On-site psychology and supportive counseling services
    • Secure entry procedures and attentive security practices

    Cons

    • Inconsistent staffing levels and frequent understaffing
    • Delayed response to call bells and assistance requests
    • Medication-management and pharmacy coordination inconsistencies
    • Delays in clinician assessment and escalation for acute changes
    • Inconsistent room cleaning and sanitation practices
    • Variable meal quality and limited special-diet accommodations
    • Aging or outdated resident rooms and equipment in some areas
    • Laundry and personal-property management lapses
    • Variable administrative responsiveness and family communication
    • Gaps in infection-control and outbreak management processes

    Summary of reviews

    Overall impression: Reviews present a polarized but consistent pattern: the facility delivers strong rehabilitation services and benefits from many engaged, skilled clinicians, while operational and staffing inconsistencies create variability in day-to-day care. Families and patients frequently describe effective, outcome-oriented therapy (physical, occupational, speech) and many instances of successful post-acute recoveries. Individual clinical staff — therapists, nurse practitioners, certain nurses, social workers, and admissions personnel — are often singled out for professionalism, helpfulness, and personalized attention.

    Care and clinical responsiveness: Clinical strengths center on the rehabilitation team and selected medical providers who prioritize mobility goals and discharge readiness. However, reviewers also describe operational gaps that affect clinical safety and timeliness: delayed bedside assessments by prescribers, slow initiation of medications in some cases, and reported transfers to emergency care following an acute change. These issues appear linked to staffing patterns and escalation processes; several families noted that response and assessment timing were slower during periods of limited staffing.

    Staff and conduct: Many comments emphasize compassionate, attentive, and knowledgeable staff across multiple departments — nursing, therapy, social work, dietary, and administration. At the same time, there are recurring accounts of inconsistent staff conduct and communication tone, with reports of unhelpful interactions or brusque responses from some caregivers. Understaffing was frequently cited as a driver of delayed assistance, long call-button waits, and overwhelmed direct-care staff.

    Dining and nutrition: Dining impressions are mixed. Multiple reviewers praise high-quality, restaurant-style meals prepared by skilled kitchen staff, as well as pleasant dining-room service. Conversely, a sizable set of comments highlight cold or unappetizing meals, missed meal deliveries, and limited availability of therapeutic or supplemental nutrition (for example, specialized diet options or protein supplements). This suggests variability in meal-service consistency and menu accommodations across stays.

    Facilities, housekeeping, and amenities: Public spaces, grounds, and some wings are described as clean, bright, and well-maintained, with welcoming decor and a usable outdoor courtyard. Several private rooms and linens are noted as comfortable. At the same time, other reviewers report aging or outdated rooms, inconsistent housekeeping practices, odor concerns in some areas, and lapses in personal-laundry handling. These differences point to uneven facility upkeep and housekeeping workflow performance.

    Management, communication, and infection control: Management engagement is described positively by some families (visible leadership, responsive admissions, and staff recognition), while others experienced delays in administrative responsiveness and concerns about billing interactions. Infection-control practices are present (entry testing, masking) and praised by some reviewers, but others reported outbreak events and gaps in outbreak management and clinical escalation. Overall, infection-control performance appears variable across different time periods.

    Notable patterns and practical takeaways: The strongest and most consistent asset is the rehabilitation- and therapy-focused care, supported by many committed individual staff members who facilitate recovery and discharge. The most consistent liabilities are operational: staffing shortages, slow response to call bells, inconsistent medication and housekeeping processes, and variable meal-service reliability. Prospective residents and families considering this facility should weigh the high-caliber therapy and many exemplary staff against the potential for day-to-day variability driven by staffing and operational practices. When possible, visitors should ask management about current staffing levels, medication-administration protocols, dietary accommodations, and housekeeping schedules to assess how those operational factors align with their needs.

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    Medicare Ratings

    3·/ 5
    • Overall

    • Health Inspection

    • Staffing

    • Quality Measures

    Ratings from the U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (Care Compare). View on Medicare.gov

    Location

    Southern Ocean Center is located at 1361 NJ-72 West, Manahawkin, NJ, 08050.

    About Southern Ocean Center

    Southern Ocean Center on Route 72 West in Manahawkin, New Jersey is a single-story nursing facility with 136 licensed beds and an average of 126 residents, and you'll find both private and semi-private rooms, which are all air-conditioned and have individual climate controls, so things stay comfortable, and they're pet-friendly here, so small pets are allowed, which is nice because some folks really need that company, and they even have beautiful gardens and courtyards to walk in or just sit outside for some fresh air. The center is part of Genesis Healthcare and has been working in New Jersey since 1949, and it takes Medicare, Medicaid, and most private insurance plans, and staff here offer skilled nursing, medical, and rehabilitative care for both short stays and longer-term residents, helping people after hospital visits or just if someone needs extra support all the time, and if a family member's away, they can provide respite care, plus they've got memory support and transitional care units to help with recovery or other needs, and you get resources like Powerback Rehabilitation to You, which is their approach to rehab care.

    Nurses provide an average of 3.50 nurse hours per resident per day at Southern Ocean Center, although there's a nurse turnover rate of 44.5%, meaning about half the nurses may change each year, but you'll still find a trained team on hand all day and night to help with health monitoring, medication management, and things like IV therapy, wound care, dental care, and more, with on-site nurse practitioners and attending physicians making sure residents get the medical attention they need, and there's outpatient rehab too, including physical, occupational, and speech therapy, especially after things like joint replacement or injuries. Residents have access to pain management, hospice care, palliative care, vision and audiology care, psychiatric care, and dietary support, and there's support for colostomy and TPN if someone needs those services.

    There are amenities to help life feel better, like restaurant-style dining rooms, in-room dining, or private dining spaces for visiting family, and complimentary laundry services, salon and barber shop, beauty care, as well as an emergency alert and response system, mail and newspaper service, pharmaceutical delivery, computer and internet access, an alarm system for security, and cable TV, plus comfortable lounge areas, activity rooms, social and wellness programs, events, and all sorts of cultural, educational, and religious activities, so people don't just sit around all day unless that's what they'd prefer. There's even an on-site case manager and discharge planner who helps set up care plans and makes sure everyone knows what to expect.

    The center has some problems on its record-there are 25 inspection deficiencies, including six from a May 2, 2024, standard inspection, five of which are related to infection prevention and indicate some violations of federal standards for protecting residents from infections, which is important to be aware of, and there have been deficiencies about resident rights, like not always telling residents and their representatives about transfers or discharges in time or letting them know about their rights to appeal, plus some issues providing pharmacy services and with licensed pharmacists, but these didn't cause actual harm, though they were marked as having potential for more than minimal harm, and some affected only a few residents while others affected more. Still, Southern Ocean Center keeps information about itself available online, belongs to the National Alliance for Care at Home, and has been advocating for elderly and disabled New Jersey residents for many years, and the mix of care options means different people may find what they need, though it's always good to look closely at reports, staffing, and care details before making a decision on any facility.

    People often ask...

    Southern Ocean Center offers assisted living, memory care, and skilled nursing.

    There are 13 photos of Southern Ocean Center on Mirador.

    The full address for this community is 1361 NJ-72 West, Manahawkin, NJ 08050.

    No, Southern Ocean Center does not offer respite care. Respite care in assisted living communities provides temporary, short-term relief for primary caregivers by offering professional care for their loved ones. It allows individuals to stay in an assisted living community for a limited time, giving caregivers a break while ensuring residents receive necessary support and assistance with daily activities.

    Disclaimer

    Mirador Living is not affiliated with the owner or operator(s) of Southern Ocean Center. The information above has not been verified or approved by the owner or operator. For exact information, please contact Southern Ocean Center directly. There is no cost for this service. We are compensated by the community you select.

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