Fairlawn Rehab and Nursing Center

    3558 Ridgewood Rd, Akron, OH, 44333
    2.5 · 21 reviews
    • Assisted living
    • Memory care
    • Skilled nursing
    AnonymousLoved one of resident
    1.0

    Regretted placement, rude, unsafe, filthy

    I placed my parent here and regretted it. Staff were often rude and unhelpful, the place was severely understaffed (call lights 50+ minutes), residents left unsafe or unattended, meds/narcotics went missing and police were involved, and the building was filthy with terrible food and disorganized discharge planning. A few nurses/therapists and the secured memory-care were good and new management showed some improvement, but overall I would not recommend - we left early.

    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

    2.52 · 21 reviews

    Overall rating

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

      2.4
    • Staff

      2.4
    • Meals

      1.0
    • Amenities

      2.0
    • Value

      1.5

    Pros

    • Some compassionate and skilled nurses reported
    • Therapy department described as engaging and fun
    • Dialysis center staff attentive and competent
    • Secured memory care neighborhood with specialized dementia programming
    • Front desk and some staff described as helpful and kind
    • Reports of improved care under recent/new management/administrator
    • Instances of good care for complex needs (tracheostomy, dialysis)

    Cons

    • Severe cleanliness problems (reports of blood, feces, filthy floors)
    • Chronic understaffing and high resident-to-aide ratios
    • Long call-light response times (often 50+ minutes)
    • Allegations of staff misconduct (smoking, drinking on premises)
    • Theft and missing items/narcotics alleged by families
    • Safety concerns for residents (ignored buzzers, residents left in bed)
    • Poor meals and lack of organized activities
    • Inconsistent and frequent management/ownership turnover
    • Old, outdated facility and highly variable room conditions
    • Rude or unhelpful nursing aides and nursing staff
    • Refusal or failure to take residents to appointments
    • Heavy use of agency/temporary staff leading to inconsistent care
    • Reports of police involvement and state action/shutdown

    Summary review

    Overall sentiment across these review summaries is strongly mixed but leans heavily negative, with multiple reports describing serious quality, safety, and sanitation problems alongside a smaller set of positive accounts highlighting specific staff, departments, or recent management changes. The reviews show a pattern of highly inconsistent experiences: some families describe compassionate, competent caregivers and good specialty services, while many others report neglect, unsafe conditions, theft, and poor management. That variability appears tied to staffing instability, frequent ownership changes, and the use of agency staff.

    Care quality and responsiveness: A dominant theme is chronic understaffing and slow response times. Numerous reviews describe long delays answering call lights (some stating 50+ minute waits), difficulty locating nurses or aides, and a high resident-to-aide ratio. These conditions are linked in the reviews to instances of neglect: residents left in bed when they needed assistance, buzzers sounding continuously, missed appointments or refusal to transport residents, and poor discharge planning or lack of assistance with appeals. At the same time, several reviewers explicitly praise individual nurses (notably some male nurses) and specific departments — indicating that competent, caring staff are present at times, but that care is inconsistent and dependent on which employees are on duty.

    Staff behavior and misconduct: Multiple reviews allege serious staff misconduct, including nurses and aides seen smoking or drinking outside, reports of liquor bottles in the yard, and staff using social media while on shift. Theft and missing items — including allegations of money and lost narcotics — are repeatedly mentioned, with at least one report invoking police involvement. There are also frequent descriptions of rude or confrontational attitudes from nursing aides and some nurses, and of employees being mistreated by management, which reviewers say contributes to turnover and worse resident care.

    Facilities and cleanliness: Many reviewers report an old, outdated building with variable room conditions — some rooms described as okay or good, others as poor. The most severe complaints involve sanitation: blood and feces on the floor, filthy floors not mopped, cigarette butts and trash around the property, and a generally 'nasty' environment in some accounts. These descriptions raise serious infection control and safety concerns. Conversely, a few reviews note that previous ownership made a visible effort with floors washed and polished, suggesting the level of environmental cleanliness has fluctuated with management.

    Dining, activities, and therapy: Several reviews describe meals as poor and say there is little to no organized activity programming. However, the therapy department receives positive mentions — characterized as fun and engaging — and the dialysis center staff are singled out as competent and caring. This suggests rehabilitative and specialized clinical services may be stronger than general nursing home day-to-day engagement and dining services in some cases.

    Management, ownership, and patterns over time: Reviewers repeatedly cite frequent ownership and management changes, with comments that leadership seems to change yearly. This turnover is tied to a sense of instability: some reviews praise recent new management and a very good administrator who improved care, while others claim recent ownership is very poor, expensive, and mistreats staff. A few reviews mention the facility being shut down or subject to state action, indicating regulatory concerns at times. Overall, these patterns suggest systemic problems with leadership continuity and consistent standards of care.

    Memory care note: One consistent positive is an 'excellent secured memory care neighborhood' with specialized dementia programming noted by reviewers. However, it is also specified that this neighborhood is not a behavioral memory care unit, which may limit suitability for residents with significant behavioral needs.

    Notable risks and warnings: Several reviews describe allegations that are particularly concerning from a safety and legal standpoint — lost narcotics, theft, police involvement, and reports of blood and feces on the floor. These claims, if accurate, represent severe lapses in medication management, security, and infection control. Many reviewers explicitly advise avoiding the facility.

    Conclusion and implications: The review summaries paint a picture of a facility with serious and recurring problems (cleanliness, staffing shortages, slow response times, alleged theft and misconduct, inconsistent management) that are occasionally offset by pockets of good care (individual nurses, therapy, dialysis, and a secured memory care neighborhood). For families considering this facility, the mixed nature of reviews suggests the following: verify the facilitys current regulatory status and recent inspection reports; request information on staffing levels and staff turnover; arrange an in-person visit at multiple times of day to observe cleanliness, staff responsiveness, mealtimes, and activities; ask specifically about medication controls and security; and, if dementia-specific care is needed, evaluate the secured memory care neighborhood while confirming it meets behavioral care needs. Reports of recent management improvements should be investigated and confirmed, but the number and seriousness of negative allegations warrant caution and careful, up-to-date verification before making placement decisions.

    Location

    Map showing location of Fairlawn Rehab and Nursing Center

    About Fairlawn Rehab and Nursing Center

    Fairlawn Rehab and Nursing Center sits on Ridgewood Rd in Fairlawn, Ohio, and has gone through big renovations, so the place only has 75 beds now instead of the old 150, and nearly every room is private, with a few semi-private rooms where sinks are in the room and toilets might be shared. There's a special second-floor memory care unit with 25 rooms set up for people with Alzheimer's or other types of dementia. Care here covers a lot, like 24/7 skilled nursing, on-site dialysis, ventilator care for folks who need help breathing, and advanced respiratory therapy including non-invasive ventilation, and there's regular physical, occupational, and speech therapy. The medical team includes a registered nurse on duty at all times, with doctors, a psychiatrist, a pulmonologist, and two nephrologists who provide care, and Dr. Joseph Iemma from University Hospitals is one of the main doctors. They use a medical approach so staff include physicians, nurse practitioners, therapists, social workers, and people who help with medication, with care plans made special to each resident needing short-term rehabilitation after an illness or long-term care. The entire facility focuses on clinical standards and aims for positive results for every resident, running under the Foundations Health family and recently placed under Timberland Ridge management, trying to build a real "Culture of Care," with emphasis on teamwork, service, and compassion, so people living here feel respected. Memory care residents and others get to visit the newly built sensory healing garden in the courtyard, where there's a gazebo, a decorative pond, and lots of flowers to touch and see, which is supposed to help people feel calm and comforted. Family visits and community activities like Easter egg hunts, summer parties, picnics, and holiday events try to bring people together to make memories with each other. The building offers modern touches with private and semi-private rooms upgraded for comfort, as well as specialty units for people needing things like dialysis or ventilator support. They provide short-term rehabilitation and respite or hospice care too, so families can get a break if needed. The place is focused on practical medical support, but it also makes room for that sense of home and community, so people don't just feel like patients.

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