Forrest Oakes Healthcare Center - VA East

    620 Heathwood Dr, Albemarle, NC 28001
    • Assisted Living
    • Memory Care
    • Skilled Nursing
    3.7ยท46 reviews

    Compassionate staff and spotless facility

    I had a very positive experience - the staff were kind, compassionate, and went above and beyond during my mom's smooth transition to care. The facility was spotless and welcoming with excellent therapy and nursing; I'm grateful to DON Angela Bennett and the front-desk and night teams and would recommend this place to other families.

    Loved one of resident
    Jul 2026

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    Amenities

    Healthcare services

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

    Healthcare staffing

    • 12-16 hour nursing
    • 24-hour call system
    • 24-hour supervision

    Meals and dining

    • Diabetes diet
    • Meal preparation and service
    • Restaurant-style dining
    • Special dietary restrictions

    Room

    • Air-conditioning
    • Cable
    • Fully furnished
    • Housekeeping and linen services
    • Kitchenettes
    • Private bathrooms
    • Telephone
    • Wifi

    Transportation

    • Community operated transportation
    • Transportation arrangement
    • Transportation arrangement (non-medical)

    Common areas

    • Beauty salon
    • Computer center
    • Dining room
    • Fitness room
    • Gaming room
    • Garden
    • Outdoor space
    • Small library
    • Wellness center

    Community services

    • Concierge services
    • Fitness programs
    • Move-in coordination

    Activities

    • Community-sponsored activities
    • Planned day trips
    • Resident-run activities
    • Scheduled daily activities

    Reviews

    3.72ยท(46)

    Overall rating

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

      3.5
    • Staff

      3.8
    • Meals

      2.0
    • Amenities

      3.4
    • Value

      1.0

    Pros

    • Compassionate and attentive CNA and nursing staff
    • Effective rehabilitation and therapy programs
    • Competent wound care and medication administration (when timely)
    • Clean, well-maintained rooms and common areas
    • Supportive and accessible leadership and director of nursing
    • Helpful front-desk and administrative personnel
    • Smooth admission and transition processes
    • Accommodation of individual care preferences
    • 24/7 physician access
    • Welcoming, homeโ€‘like atmosphere

    Cons

    • Inconsistent responsiveness to call bells and care requests
    • Variable staffing levels and shift coverage
    • Gaps in clinical-response and medicationโ€‘timing practices
    • Inconsistent housekeeping and laundry processes
    • Sanitation and infectionโ€‘control inconsistencies in some areas
    • Security and personalโ€‘property control weaknesses
    • Variable meal quality and temperature control
    • Inconsistent dementiaโ€‘care training and practices
    • Inconsistent family communication and documentation handling

    Summary of reviews

    Reviewers describe a facility with a mixture of strong, person-centered caregiving and recurring operational weaknesses. Positive accounts consistently highlight compassionate, attentive CNAs and nurses who support residents through rehabilitation and routine care. Therapy and rehab services receive frequent praise for effectiveness, and wound care and medication administration are noted as competent when services are delivered as scheduled. Many families comment on a clean, wellโ€‘maintained interior and a welcoming, homeโ€‘like atmosphere supported by an engaged front desk and administrative team.

    At the management level, leadership and the director of nursing are often described as accessible and supportive, and several accounts note smooth admissions and accommodation of individual preferences. Staff members in roles such as billing, housekeeping, and social work are called out by name for helpfulness, and some families emphasize positive endโ€‘ofโ€‘life support and family communication when the leadership team is involved.

    Counterbalancing those positives are recurring operational concerns. A frequent pattern is uneven responsiveness to call bells and delays in attending to basic care needs, which families link to variable staffing levels on certain shifts. Reviewers describe inconsistencies in clinical response and the timing of medication administration; these issues are sometimes associated with limited therapy session duration or scheduling mismatches. Housekeeping and laundry practices are inconsistent across accounts, with specific sanitation and infectionโ€‘control lapses described in some areas.

    Additional patterns include weaknesses in property control and tracking of residentsโ€™ belongings, variable meal quality and temperature control, and gaps in dementiaโ€‘care training and implementation. Several families also raise concerns about documentation handling and family communication, including verification of powerโ€‘ofโ€‘attorney paperwork and notification practices. A small number of very serious allegations about clinical outcomes and endโ€‘ofโ€‘life circumstances were presented; these elevate the importance of reviewing medical records and discussing crisis and escalation protocols directly with facility leadership.

    Overall, the facility demonstrates clear strengths in compassionate frontline caregiving and rehabilitation services, supported by visible leadership in many cases. However, prospective residents and families should probe operational consistency: staffing patterns by shift, callโ€‘response times, laundry and sanitation protocols, propertyโ€‘control procedures, dementiaโ€‘care staff training, meal service practices, and processes for clinical escalation and family notifications. An inโ€‘person tour, review of care plans, and direct discussions with the DON and therapy leadership are advisable to assess whether the facilityโ€™s operational reliability matches its documented clinical and interpersonal strengths.

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    Medicare Ratings

    1ยท/ 5
    • Overall

    • Health Inspection

    • Staffing

    • Quality Measures

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

    Location

    Map showing location of Forrest Oakes Healthcare Center - VA East

    Forrest Oakes Healthcare Center - VA East is located at 620 Heathwood Dr, Albemarle, NC, 28001.

    About Forrest Oakes Healthcare Center - VA East

    Forrest Oakes Healthcare Center - VA East sits at 620 Heathwood Drive in Albemarle, North Carolina, sharing the place with Forrest Oakes Nursing Center, and folks say it focuses on skilled nursing care with 60 beds, offering healthcare services for veterans, assisted living, and Alzheimer's care, though it's hard to ignore that the place has made it onto the NHAA Watchlist because of unsafe staffing levels and serious medication errors, with records showing that some residents had to be hospitalized after staff didn't follow the rules for giving out medicine, and there have been state complaints and investigations for abuse and neglect, so while the center has the usual nursing, health care, and business operations as a corporation, managed by Administrator Patrick Lancaster and with North Carolina Health Care Facilities Association, it's found itself in the middle of bankruptcy under Chapter 11 in Georgia, filing plenty of official papers on its assets and liabilities-which by their reports, show up to $1 billion in assets and a much steeper range for debts, with lawyers from McDermott Will & Emery LLP handling all that, so if someone's considering the place, it's worth knowing the facility's faced problems with both staffing and medication management while still generating large revenues, being operated by LaVie Care Centers and jointly managed with other related spots, and the place does have programs for different medical needs, but those issues with resident harm and oversight seem like something that needs careful attention.

    People often ask...

    Forrest Oakes Healthcare Center - VA East offers assisted living, memory care, and skilled nursing.

    The full address for this community is 620 Heathwood Dr, Albemarle, NC 28001.

    No, Forrest Oakes Healthcare Center - VA East 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 Forrest Oakes Healthcare Center - VA East. The information above has not been verified or approved by the owner or operator. For exact information, please contact Forrest Oakes Healthcare Center - VA East directly. There is no cost for this service. We are compensated by the community you select.

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