Eckerd Living Center

    250 Hospital Dr, Highlands, NC, 28741
    4.0 · 10 reviews
    • Assisted living
    • Memory care
    • Skilled nursing
    AnonymousLoved one of resident
    2.0

    Caring staff, management safety failures

    I had mixed experiences. Many nurses and CNAs were loving, competent, and treated my family like family - excellent dementia and end-of-life care, activities, and accommodations - and I'm grateful for their compassion. However, management neglected safety: multiple falls (one causing a hip injury), delayed accident reports, refusal to readmit, a poorly handled transfer without paperwork, and evasive or rude responses when I raised concerns. I recommend cautiously.

    Pricing

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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

    4.00 · 10 reviews

    Overall rating

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

      3.8
    • Staff

      4.0
    • Meals

      4.0
    • Amenities

      4.0
    • Value

      4.0

    Pros

    • Caring, family-like staff
    • Compassionate nurses and CNAs
    • Excellent dementia care
    • Strong end-of-life care
    • Engaging activities program
    • Responsive staff who resolve issues quickly (in many reports)
    • Comfortable accommodations
    • Residents described as well cared for and happy
    • Multiple reviewers highly recommend the facility

    Cons

    • Rude therapist reported
    • Staff attitude changes over time
    • Poor handling of transfers and missing transfer paperwork
    • Refusal to readmit a resident after transfer
    • Delays in filing accident/incident reports
    • Neglect of safety resulting in multiple falls and a hip injury
    • Perceived dishonesty or shady behavior by management/staff
    • Mistreatment or retaliatory behavior when family raises concerns
    • Inconsistent care quality across cases

    Summary review

    Overall sentiment across the reviews is mixed but leans positive regarding day-to-day caregiving, compassion, and programming, while raising serious concerns about safety, administrative processes, and inconsistent responses to family complaints. A plurality of reviewers emphasize warm, family-like relationships with nurses, CNAs, and other caregiving staff, praising dementia care, end-of-life support, and the activities program. Several reviewers specifically describe the staff as loving, competent, and quick to address problems when they arise; these accounts highlight residents being well-treated, comfortable, and happy with accommodations.

    Care quality in routine and supportive contexts is frequently described as very good to excellent. Multiple summaries state that nursing assistants and nurses were loved and that dementia care and end-of-life care were handled with compassion and competence. Reviewers repeatedly call out the activities program as excellent and note that staff often create a family-like atmosphere, leading to gratitude from families and wishes that residents could have stayed longer. In many cases, issues brought up by families were addressed promptly, reinforcing perceptions of responsive, attentive staff.

    However, there are significant and recurring negative themes that cannot be ignored. One set of reviews details serious safety and administrative failures: a resident was transferred to another facility without transfer papers, transfer handling was described as poor, and staff allegedly refused to readmit the resident. These incidents are tied to delays in accident reporting and reports of multiple falls resulting in a hip injury. Reviewers characterize these events as neglect of safety and indicate they experienced mistreatment when speaking up. At least one reviewer perceived dishonesty or "shadiness" in how matters were handled and mentioned possible legal action. Such accounts point to breakdowns in procedure, documentation, and transparent communication in critical situations.

    Staff behavior and consistency show a clear divide in reviewer experience. While many highlight compassionate direct care staff (CNAs and nurses), there are isolated but impactful reports of a rude therapist and of staff attitudes changing over time. These accounts suggest variability in professionalism or in-staff continuity; when negative interactions occur they appear to have substantial consequences on family trust. Additionally, administrative responsiveness appears uneven: in numerous positive reports issues are resolved immediately, whereas the negative reports describe delayed or absent incident reports and refusals to follow normal transfer/readmission protocols.

    Facilities and accommodations are generally described positively. Reviewers use terms such as "amazing facility," "well taken care of," and indicate satisfaction with the living environment. The combination of comfortable accommodations, active programming, and caring direct-care staff is a frequently cited strength and a source of strong recommendations from multiple families.

    In summary, the dominant pattern is one of a facility that delivers warm, competent day-to-day care, especially notable for dementia support, end-of-life care, and recreational programming, with many staff members viewed as family-like and responsive. Counterbalancing those positives are serious administrative and safety lapses in at least some cases: mishandled transfers, missing paperwork, delayed incident reporting, multiple falls culminating in injury, refusal to readmit, and perceptions of evasive or dishonest handling of complaints. These negative themes are less frequent but high impact. Prospective residents and families should weigh the facility's strong caregiving and activities record against the reported risks around transfer protocols, incident transparency, and consistency in staff behavior; the reviews suggest excellent daily care but also indicate the need for reliable administrative and safety practices to match that caregiving standard.

    Location

    Map showing location of Eckerd Living Center

    About Eckerd Living Center

    Eckerd Living Center sits right alongside Highlands-Cashiers Hospital in Highlands, NC, with 80 beds in a place that feels homelike even with its modern touches, and folks here get both short-term and long-term care, depending on what they need, while kindness and support seem to drive the staff who offer help day and night with dressing, bathing, eating, medications, and keeping an eye on everyone's health. Skilled nursing care is available around the clock, and primary care doctors check in regularly, making care plans, supervising treatments, and giving out prescriptions, while a team approach brings together nurse managers, social workers, dieticians, therapists, and specialists. Rehabilitation covers physical, occupational, and speech therapy, and the facility partners with CarePartners for more therapy and health education, with a focus on helping folks stay independent and manage health challenges.

    People here see a lot of services going on, from lab tests and prescription management to X-rays, MRIs, CT scans, and ultrasounds, plus psychiatric help, hospice care right on site, and pharmacy solutions when needed. The secure, locked areas support residents with dementia or Alzheimer's, keeping them safe from wandering, while long-term care insurance and Medicaid are accepted for those who need support, and private payment and Medicare are also options.

    The center tries to lift spirits by offering a fair amount of activities, and you'll find crafts, games, food socials, Saturday matinees, book readings, and daily Bingo, Moovin' & Groovin', and prayer times, with live music, worship, "Let's Talk," and chaplain's chats sprinkled in a couple times each week. Folks can join holiday parties, themed gatherings, gardening clubs, and music groups like "C-Squares" and "Mountain Dulcimers," while off-campus trips run on wheelchair-accessible vans and buses with drivers who know the routes, and there's a quarterly memorial service for those who've passed. Residents eat in a dining room that serves up restaurant-style, gourmet-inspired meals with choices, and everyone has access to a beauty shop for manicures or pedicures, plus gardens they can wheel through for fresh air.

    Eckerd Living Center has private and semi-private rooms and over 80 skilled nursing facility beds, with a CMS rating of 5 stars and an overall 4.2 rating from five reviews, and the whole place runs under Administrator Ava Ammons. Services are provided in connection with the North Carolina Health Care Facilities Association, and drugs are stored and given out as needed, under physician supervision. With a focus on safety, community, and health, folks at Eckerd Living Center can expect attentive care in a place that keeps track of both needs and little comforts.

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