Overall sentiment: Reviews for Sandia Ridge Center are sharply polarized, with a mix of strongly positive accounts of skilled, compassionate care and very negative reports documenting neglect, poor hygiene, and management failures. Many families describe outstanding, even life-changing, therapy and individual staff members who go above and beyond; at the same time a substantial number of reviews recount systemic problems that led them to move loved ones out of the facility. The result is a facility that can deliver excellent rehabilitation and individual caregiving in some cases, but also displays recurring operational, cleanliness, and safety deficiencies in others.
Staff and care quality: A clear pattern emerges where individual caregivers, therapists, CNAs, med techs and certain leaders are repeatedly praised for kindness, professionalism, and clinical skill. Several reviewers credit the therapy team with restoring mobility, improving independence, and producing excellent short-term rehab outcomes. Social workers and admissions personnel also receive frequent positive mentions for being compassionate and helpful. However, these positives are contrasted by many reports of inconsistent staffing and variable performance between shifts. Numerous reviewers report ignored call lights, delayed or missing medications, lack of bathing and hygiene assistance, and active neglect that allegedly led to deterioration and hospital readmission in some cases. Comments frequently describe rude or abrasive nurses on certain shifts and praise for others, indicating significant inconsistency in staff behavior and competence.
Therapy and rehabilitation: Physical and occupational therapy are among the most consistently praised services. Multiple accounts describe effective, knowledgeable therapists who helped patients regain walking ability and return home. Rehab outcomes are often cited as a major reason families were satisfied, with adjectives like "best care provided" and "life-changing" used by some reviewers. That said, other reviews mention limited PT session frequency, lack of weekend rehab, and occasional dismissive therapy supervisors, indicating variability in service intensity and supervision.
Facility cleanliness and safety: Reviews conflict sharply on cleanliness. Many reviewers call the facility clean, well-maintained, and the "cleanest building in Albuquerque," with responsive housekeeping and fast maintenance repairs. Conversely, an equally large group describe filthy bathrooms, communal showers, roach infestations (including in the dining room), smelly rooms, and soiled linens. These accounts include serious allegations such as bedsores, skin breakdown from incontinence not being addressed, ripped sheets during care, and hygiene failures in memory and psych units. Safety concerns extend to unsecured premises during remodeling, materials left out, and damaged equipment or electrical problems. Such mixed reports suggest cleanliness and infection-control practices may vary by unit or shift.
Dining and nutrition: Dining is a frequent complaint. Reviews repeatedly describe cold or lukewarm food, meals lacking variety, extras missing, running out of appetizing options, and water not being provided with meals. There are specific allegations of the kitchen running out of food and ongoing roach issues in dining areas. A minority of reviewers, however, note decent or good meals and friendly dining staff. Overall, nutrition and meal service appear to be an area of recurring dissatisfaction for many families.
Management, administration, and communication: Management is a major theme in negative reviews — many families describe administration as idle, dismissive of complaints, or even narcissistic. Multiple reports claim that complaints are ignored, that issues are not escalated or resolved, and that billing practices can be questionable (including overcharging or billing for services not provided). Conversely, some reviewers praise particular administrators and the Director of Nursing for responsiveness and organization. This polarization suggests leadership effectiveness is perceived differently across units or over time, and that some families experienced prompt issue resolution while others felt ignored.
Memory care and psych units: Several reviews warn specifically about memory care and psychiatric units, citing poor handling of dementia behaviors, inadequate hygiene, soiled clothing after showers, and recommendations by staff that families move patients out. These accounts are serious because they highlight both safety and dignity concerns for vulnerable residents.
Amenities, rooms, and privacy: Multiple reviewers note small, cramped shared rooms, shared toilets (sometimes among four residents), and lack of in-room phones or TVs ready for use. The shared-room arrangement and space limitations are a repeated source of dissatisfaction, especially for families seeking privacy. Parking difficulties and visitor inconvenience are also mentioned by several reviewers.
Patterns and notable contradictions: The dominant pattern is variability. Many reviews describe excellent, attentive, and life-restoring care by particular staff members or teams, while many others tell of neglect, unclean conditions, and managerial indifference. Positive comments often highlight specific staff or departments (therapy, social work, certain nurses), whereas negative comments tend to describe systemic operational problems (call bell response, hygiene, food service, staff shortages). The coexistence of glowing and scathing reviews suggests that unit-level management, staffing levels per shift, and recent changes (e.g., remodeling, pest treatment) strongly influence resident experience.
Recommendations and considerations for prospective families: Because experiences vary widely, prospective families should (1) tour the exact unit they are considering, including memory or psych units if relevant; (2) ask about current staffing ratios by shift and weekends; (3) observe cleanliness in bathrooms, dining rooms, and common areas and inquire about pest control and infection prevention protocols; (4) verify therapy schedules and weekend availability if rehab is the goal; (5) check how medications, call bell response targets, and discharge planning are managed; and (6) request references from recent families and ask for written resolution timelines for any concerns. Pay close attention to reports of missed medications, laundering/property handling policies, and handling of dementia-related needs.
Bottom line: Sandia Ridge Center appears capable of delivering excellent rehabilitation and compassionate care in many individual cases, driven by talented therapists, CNAs, nurses, and social workers. However, a substantial number of reviews raise red flags about cleanliness, pest control, inconsistent staffing and care, communication breakdowns, and administrative responsiveness. The facility may be a strong choice for some (particularly for short-term rehab under a specific therapy team), but families should exercise due diligence, inspect the particular unit and shifts they will encounter, and confirm current remediation efforts for the operational issues frequently cited in negative reviews.
