Overall sentiment in the reviews is mixed, with several clear strengths paired with repeated and serious concerns. Many reviewers emphasize a welcoming, clean environment and staff who are kind, honest, and accommodating. Physical spaces are described positively — bright rooms, options for private or shared rooms, well-kept grounds, a pleasant and intimate dining area, an on-site chapel, and salon services. The facility is also noted as being more affordable than alternatives, and some families report that their relatives like living there and receive personalized, family-style care. Several reviews single out strong health and rehabilitation services and abundant empathy from staff for certain residents.
However, an important and recurring cluster of negative issues emerges around staffing and clinical safety. Multiple reviewers report chronic understaffing on both weekdays and weekends, slow call-button response times, and instances where resident needs are not met in a timely way. These staffing problems are tied to concrete and serious incidents: reports of residents being left in soiled Depends, frequent hospitalizations of residents, concerns about inadequate nutritional care for people with dementia, and at least one report attributing a resident death to lack of oxygen. These are critical safety and quality-of-care concerns and suggest variability in how well residents’ clinical and personal care needs are managed.
Dining and activities are described in generally neutral to mildly positive terms: the dining area is pleasant and food is described as acceptable, while activities appear limited (cards and bingo are specifically mentioned). For residents who prioritize social routines and basic programming, the facility seems to provide some engagement opportunities, but several reviewers noted a lack of broader amenities beyond the essentials.
There is a notable contrast across reviews regarding overall care quality. Some families praise attentive, personalized care and excellent rehab/health services, while others report neglect, inconsistent care, and safety incidents. This variability may indicate that certain staff members or shifts provide higher-quality, more attentive care while others are stretched thin or undertrained. The combination of positive interpersonal reports (kind, empathetic staff) with operational failures (staffing shortages, slow responses, clinical incidents) suggests that the facility’s culture and intentions can be good but are undermined by resource or management constraints.
In summary, Benedictine Living Community–Garrison appears to offer a clean, welcoming physical environment with compassionate staff and reasonable pricing, and some residents and families are satisfied with the care and rehab services. At the same time, recurring and serious concerns about staffing adequacy, response times, inconsistent care, and safety incidents — including reports of neglect and hospitalization — are significant and must be weighed heavily. Prospective residents and families should consider visiting at multiple times (including weekends and evenings), asking specific questions about staffing ratios, dementia nutrition protocols, emergency response procedures, and recent incident resolution, and seeking references from current families to understand the variability reported in these reviews.
