Overall sentiment across the reviews is sharply mixed, with strong praise for the facility's physical environment and for specific staff and clinical services, but substantial and recurring complaints about staffing, basic daily care, management, billing, safety, and privacy. Many reviewers highlight the building's appearance and cleanliness — describing the site as beautiful, hotel-like, and smelling good — and several note excellent therapy services (PT/OT/speech), compassionate individual caregivers, and strong end-of-life or skilled nursing care in specific instances. At the same time, a large portion of reviews describes systemic problems that materially affect resident wellbeing.
Care quality and staffing emerge as the most frequent and serious themes. Numerous reviewers report chronic understaffing, high patient-to-aide ratios, frequent staff turnover, and long delays for routine assistance or emergency calls. These staffing shortages are tied to concrete neglect: residents left without timely bathroom assistance, unattended dirty diapers, missing help with feeding, and lack of basic end-of-life care such as washing, oral care, shaving, and help with eating and drinking. While some family members praised individual employees for being caring and compassionate, other reviewers described aides as rude or poorly trained and expressed fear for residents' safety and dignity. The result is a polarized description in which pockets of excellent, individualized care exist alongside repeated incidents of neglect.
Facility amenities and daily life present a mixed picture. The facility's aesthetics and communal atmosphere are repeatedly praised: many reviewers appreciated the beautiful rooms, activities, and an engaged social environment that sometimes felt like family. Activities and community engagement were cited positively. Yet those positives are undercut by reports of very basic lapses: soiled rooms left uncleaned, trash and incontinence products not removed, meal trays ignored leaving residents hungry, and food-quality/delivery problems (exacerbated during visitor bans). Several reviewers experienced delays or losses in personal packages and deliveries, and some identified food as a concern. The contrast suggests variability across units or shifts, with some residents receiving excellent attention and others experiencing neglect.
Management, billing, and safety/privacy concerns are recurring and significant. Multiple reviewers accused administration of being money-focused, dishonest, and poorly run, citing billing errors (no bills received, incorrect billing addresses, large co-pays over $2,000, and medications stopped for non-payment). Serious governance complaints include allegations that management did not follow New York State law, violated signed agreements, and obstructed the Ombudsman — claims that indicate distrust and potential regulatory noncompliance. Security and privacy problems are also noted: theft of items and money, missing packages, privacy/HIPAA breaches, and recommendations by family members to record conversations with staff due to lack of trust. Emergency response concerns (unanswered or delayed alarm buttons) further amplify safety worries.
Patterns and implications: the reviews indicate a facility with strong physical resources and some exemplary employees and clinical programs, but with systemic issues in staffing, operations, and management that cause inconsistent resident experiences. Positive reports often single out particular staff members or therapy teams, suggesting that quality may depend heavily on who is on shift or which unit a resident is in. Negative reports are consistent and detailed enough (neglect of hygiene and feeding, delayed emergency responses, theft, billing problems, alleged legal/regulatory violations) to constitute significant red flags for prospective residents and families.
If considering Samaritan Summit Village, families should weigh the facility's appealing environment and certain strong clinical services against repeated reports of understaffing, neglect, administrative problems, and safety/privacy concerns. Practical steps for prospective residents or their advocates include visiting multiple times across different shifts, asking for staffing ratios and turnover statistics, verifying billing procedures and contract terms in writing, confirming Ombudsman access and complaint resolution processes, and checking for unit-specific differences in care quality. The reviews suggest that family involvement and vigilant oversight are often necessary to ensure consistent, safe, and respectful care.
