Signature HealthCARE of Chapel Hill

    1602 E Franklin St, Chapel Hill, NC, 27514
    3.6 · 99 reviews
    • Assisted living
    • Memory care
    • Skilled nursing
    AnonymousLoved one of resident
    3.0

    Excellent frontline care but unsanitary

    I had a mixed experience. The rehab therapists, many CNAs and some nurses were caring, hardworking and helped my loved one improve - I would consider returning for short-term rehab. However management, communication and housekeeping were inconsistent: strong urine/odor, soiled diapers/dirty sheets, pest reports, missed meds/therapy, billing pressure and chaotic discharges. In short: excellent frontline caregivers and therapy; avoid for long-term stays until leadership and sanitation improve.

    Pricing

    Schedule a Tour

    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

    3.56 · 99 reviews

    Overall rating

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

      3.6
    • Staff

      3.8
    • Meals

      2.9
    • Amenities

      2.3
    • Value

      1.0

    Pros

    • Strong rehabilitation program (PT/OT/speech)
    • Attentive and skilled therapy staff
    • Caring and compassionate nurses and CNAs
    • Helpful and efficient admissions staff
    • Responsive front-desk and social services in positive cases
    • Quick wound care and timely medical attention reported
    • Person-centered care and daily patient discussions
    • Clean rooms and daily housekeeping in many reports
    • Delicious hot meals and clean dining service in positive reports
    • Regular showers and good hygiene for some residents
    • Engaged activities program and dedicated activity staff
    • Visible leadership and Director of Nursing involvement in some cases
    • Successful rehab outcomes with patients discharged home
    • Skilled agency/contract nurses available
    • Comfortable room accommodations for some residents
    • Friendly, family-like culture and cheerful caregivers
    • Admissions process described as smooth and prepared
    • Medications available on arrival in some admissions
    • Staff willing to go above and beyond
    • Helpful coordination/advocacy with insurance for therapy
    • Clean common areas and clutter-free hallways in positive reviews
    • Consistent janitorial cleaning and fresh sheets reported
    • Good mobility support and balanced meals option
    • Staff that provide emotional support and motivation
    • Overall reputation as a capable rehab facility in the area

    Cons

    • Unresponsive or absent management and administration
    • Inconsistent staffing and frequent understaffing
    • Long wait times for assistance and unanswered call lights
    • Residents left in soiled diapers or soiled clothing for hours
    • Infrequent bathing and poor basic hygiene for some residents
    • Missed, delayed, or undisclosed medication administration
    • Poor infection control and COVID outbreak mishandling
    • Unsanitary conditions: urine smell, dirty sheets, mildewed laundry
    • Reports of bed bugs, roaches, and pests
    • Facility maintenance issues and outdated, shabby rooms
    • Plumbing problems (toilet nearly overflowing) and bathroom damage
    • Housekeeping failures, lost clothing, and quarantined belongings
    • Poor discharge process and billing pressure at discharge
    • Lack of equipment/accessibility (no ramp, wheelchair, or lift)
    • Insufficient clinical monitoring (missed/untreated UTIs, altered mental status)
    • Pressure or coercion around finances/insurance and Social Security
    • Administration defensive or panicked; state/ombudsman involvement
    • DHHS investigations substantiated (per reviews)
    • Inconsistent delivery of therapy or therapy delays for some patients
    • Food issues: limited options, small portions, dietary non-compliance
    • Limited snacks and weight loss reported
    • Isolation practices and visitation policies unclear or poorly handled
    • Outside-agency staffing leading to variable care quality
    • Staff rudeness, hostility, yelling, or unprofessional behavior
    • Poor communication and miscommunication with families
    • Safety and PPE concerns reported by families
    • Debris under beds and general cleanliness lapses in some units
    • Allegations of illegal or improper discharge notices
    • Patients reportedly discharged without meds or adequate support
    • Inconsistent performance between shifts/units (some excellent, some neglectful)

    Summary review

    Overall sentiment in the reviews for Signature HealthCARE of Chapel Hill is highly polarized. A large subset of reviewers praise the facility for excellent rehabilitative services, compassionate front-line staff, and a generally smooth admissions experience. These positive reviews consistently highlight a strong therapy department (physical, occupational, and speech therapy), attentive therapists who drive successful outcomes, and CNAs or nurses who provide personal, respectful care and go the extra mile. Several reviewers emphasize fast problem-solving by administration, clean rooms, daily housekeeping, and hot meals served on clean plates. Named staff members receive frequent praise in positive accounts, and multiple families report that residents regained function and returned home after a productive stay. For many patients the facility operates like a well-oiled rehab center with visible leadership, daily patient-care discussions, and an active activities program.

    Contrasting sharply with those positive experiences are numerous reports of severe lapses in basic nursing care, communication, and facility upkeep. Common and recurring complaints include long wait times for assistance, unanswered call lights, residents left in soiled diapers or dirty clothes for hours, and infrequent bathing or oral care. Multiple reviews describe missed or delayed medication administration, undisclosed medication changes, inadequate clinical monitoring (including missed or untreated urinary tract infections and deteriorating mental status), and in at least some cases transfers to hospitals due to worsening conditions. Infection control and COVID management are explicitly criticized in several comments, and some reviews reference state involvement and DHHS substantiated investigations, indicating regulatory attention to serious concerns.

    Facility condition and maintenance are another area of mixed feedback but with notable negative reports. While some families describe clean, comfortable rooms, others report shabby surroundings, holes in bathroom doors, plumbing issues (such as toilets that nearly overflow), strong urine odors in hallways, pest sightings (bed bugs, roaches), mildewed laundry, stained linens, and debris under beds. These sanitation and maintenance complaints often accompany descriptions of inconsistent housekeeping—daily janitorial service and fresh sheets are reported by some, while others experience months without clean clothes or bedding and quarantined or lost personal items.

    Staffing and management present a pattern of variability. Many reviewers praise individual staff—CNAs, therapists, admissions personnel, and specific administrators (several by name) for professionalism, compassion, and hands-on involvement. Conversely, families also describe unresponsive, defensive, or even hostile management, difficulty getting callbacks, and front-desk staff who fail to answer pages. Reviews mention reliance on outside agency staff, contributing to inconsistent performance and shift-to-shift variability. Several accounts allege pressure around billing and discharge paperwork, poor coordination at discharge (including lack of equipment like ramps or lifts), and even coercive financial practices such as pressure regarding Social Security or insurance—serious administrative concerns that some families escalated to regulators or ombudsmen.

    Dining and activities receive mixed marks: where the facility is praised, reviewers note hot, appealing meals, adequate portions, daily activities, and a positive communal atmosphere. In negative reports, reviewers cite small portion sizes, limited snack availability, failure to honor dietary restrictions (such as serving meat to a vegetarian), and consequent weight loss or dietary non-compliance. Activity programming is commended by some (named activity staff praised), while others say there is a lack of meaningful engagement for residents.

    Several broader themes emerge. First, there is a pronounced inconsistency in resident experience that appears influenced by unit, shift, or individual staff. The same facility produces both glowing accounts of excellent rehab and comprehensive, safe care and alarming reports of neglect and unsafe conditions. Second, the therapy/rehab side of the operation is repeatedly identified as a strength—many families explicitly recommend the facility for rehabilitative stays. Third, clinical safety and administrative reliability are the most cited weaknesses: medication errors or delays, missed clinical signs (UTIs, altered mental status), poor discharge coordination, and concerns raised to state agencies all point to systemic risks for some residents. Finally, the facility's physical plant and housekeeping show divergence between areas that are well-maintained and areas exhibiting serious deficiencies (odor, pests, plumbing, worn rooms).

    In sum, prospective residents and families should approach Signature HealthCARE of Chapel Hill with careful, specific questions and on-site observation. If rehabilitation and active therapy are the primary needs, the facility appears capable of delivering strong outcomes for many patients. However, those considering long-term or high-dependency care should probe thoroughly about staffing levels, shift consistency, infection control practices, medication administration procedures, discharge planning, accessibility equipment, and recent regulatory findings. Visiting at different times of day, speaking directly with therapists, nursing leadership, and families of current residents, and reviewing the facility’s most recent inspection and complaint history will help prospective families weigh the considerable variability reflected in these reviews.

    Location

    Map showing location of Signature HealthCARE of Chapel Hill

    About Signature HealthCARE of Chapel Hill

    Signature HealthCARE of Chapel Hill sits at 1602 East Franklin Street in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, and has 108 skilled nursing beds where residents get both short-term rehabilitation and long-term care, and I've seen that they also provide traditional nursing home services for those who need daily support with medical needs. Residents get 24/7 care, with registered nurses available at all times and a physician on call, so families can feel a certain sense of assurance knowing medical help's close by, and there's medication administration, IV support, wound care, and other clinical tasks like respiratory, cardiac, and diabetic care, plus they offer hospice and palliative care when needed. People who stay here get physical, speech, and occupational therapy adjusted to what each person can handle, and there's outpatient rehab for folks who need continued support after a hospital stay or injury.

    The building allows pets like dogs and cats, with both private rooms and community spaces where activities happen now and then, and the staff tries to keep residents involved in life enrichment programs to keep minds and bodies active, taking into account all kinds of backgrounds, since there's a focus on serving multi-ethnic and multi-cultural groups and meeting many spiritual needs too, with chaplain and interfaith programs for those who want them. Housekeeping, furnished meals, and controlled building entry are available, and transportation and parking are on hand, which can be a help for appointments and visits. Residents have an emergency response system in place for safety, and care navigation services aim to make experiences a bit smoother and more personal by working with physicians for each person's unique plan, so people don't feel lost in the shuffle. The facility belongs to both Signature HealthCARE and the North Carolina Health Care Facilities Association, and the current administrator is Moses Muhairwe. By focusing on real quality of life and offering programs tailored to each individual, Signature HealthCARE of Chapel Hill strives to help each resident live well, whatever their needs, and they keep working to connect care across different providers, which can help keep care coordinated over time.

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