Overall impression: Reviews for Autumn Care of Myrtle Grove are highly mixed, with a strong cluster of positive reports emphasizing compassionate caregiving and excellent rehabilitation services, contrasted with numerous and recurring complaints about staffing, safety, management responsiveness, and facility conditions. Many former patients and family members singled out the therapy teams and individual caregivers as the facility’s greatest strength, reporting meaningful functional improvement, successful discharges home, and personalized therapy plans. At the same time, a consistent pattern of understaffing, inconsistent nursing and aide performance, and administrative shortcomings creates significant variability in resident experience.
Care quality and rehabilitation: One of the clearest and most frequent themes is that short-term rehab services are a major strength. Multiple reviews praise physical and occupational therapy staff as outstanding, professional yet personable, and effective at achieving measurable progress — several reviewers specifically credited the therapy team with faster-than-expected recovery and return home. Individual therapists (e.g., Chris) and nurses (e.g., Glenda) are named as exemplary. Many families and residents described therapy sessions and gym time as highlights. However, this positive picture is tempered by numerous reports of poor or neglectful nursing care in other instances: missed bathroom assistance, inadequate bathing, improper diaper use, and claims that care declined after Medicare rehab funds were exhausted. These negative accounts indicate that skilled therapy can coexist with gaps in basic nursing care depending on staffing and management oversight.
Staff behavior and consistency: Staffing is the most frequently cited problem. Reviewers repeatedly mention chronic understaffing, high turnover (especially among CNAs), and uneven staff competency. Many reviews commend individual aides and nurses as compassionate, going above and beyond, and treating residents like family; conversely, others report unprofessional conduct — talking down to patients, rolling eyes, ignoring requests, or mishandling residents. Several reviewers emphasized the need for family presence to ensure adequate care. Communication from some staff and administration was praised (timely texts, phone calls, engaged administrators), but multiple accounts describe dismissive directors, ignored complaints, after-hours unresponsiveness, and poor inter-staff communication. This inconsistency appears to produce widely divergent resident experiences.
Facility condition, safety, and cleanliness: Comments about the physical plant are mixed and placeable into two distinct groups. Many reviewers describe the facility as clean, well-kept, and orderly, while others reported serious cleanliness and safety issues: persistent bad odors, filthy rugs, and even roach infestations. Significant safety concerns were raised about renovation practices — paint fumes, dust clouds, closed ventilation, exposed extension cords, and lack of safety cones or supervision during work — creating hazards for residents and staff. There are also reports of stolen or missing personal items and laundry problems. These conflicting accounts suggest variability over time or by unit; some reviewers also noted improvements under new management.
Management, policies, and transparency: Several reviews praise visible, responsive leadership and note improvements under new management, but many more allege poor administration: unhelpful responses to safety or staffing complaints, dismissive social workers, billing disputes (large upfront charges, disputed Medicare claims), and even reports of lawsuits or state regulatory involvement. Policy transparency issues appear prominently — particularly around emotional support animal rules and visitor access (e.g., window-only tours, front-door retrieval delays). Some reviewers described concerns about hiring policies (perceived prioritization of new grads or vaccine-related hiring decisions) that they felt could affect quality and safety. Families reported instances where complaints were ignored and, in at least one case, a contested discharge occurred against the family’s wishes.
Dining and amenities: Food quality is a frequent point of critique: meals described as cold or lukewarm, and several reviewers noted poor options for diabetic residents. Nonetheless, some residents enjoyed the dining and left positive comments about meals and hospitality. Amenities such as activities, singing sessions, therapy gym, and proximity to the beach earned positive notes. Therapy dog visits and staff-driven resident engagement activities were appreciated.
Notable patterns and recommendations: The dominant pattern is one of polarity — many reviewers experienced excellent, compassionate care and highly effective rehab, while others encountered neglect, poor communication, or unsafe conditions. This suggests that outcomes at Autumn Care of Myrtle Grove are highly dependent on specific staff on duty, unit conditions, and the current state of management oversight. Prospective residents and family members should explicitly ask about current staffing levels, CNA continuity, recent renovations and ventilation/safety controls, infection and pest control measures, policies on emotional support animals and visitor access, and how billing/Medicare claims are handled. If possible, seek references from recent families whose loved ones completed similar rehabilitation programs, and confirm whether recent management changes have improved problem areas. For those prioritizing intensive, short-term rehab, many reports indicate strong therapy teams and good potential for recovery; for long-term care needs, particularly where consistent nursing assistance is critical, the risk of inconsistent care and staffing gaps should be carefully considered.
Bottom line: Autumn Care of Myrtle Grove receives frequent praise for its therapy teams, many compassionate nurses and aides, and its ability to produce strong rehab outcomes. However, recurrent concerns — chronic understaffing, inconsistent caregiver performance, safety and cleanliness complaints, administrative unresponsiveness, and policy/billing issues — temper that praise and indicate significant variability in resident experience. Families should weigh the strong rehab reputation against the reported operational and safety concerns, ask targeted questions during admissions, and maintain active oversight when relatives are admitted.
