The reviews for Hickory Ridge Nursing & Rehab Center are highly polarized and reveal a facility with notable strengths in some areas and serious, recurring weaknesses in others. A substantial portion of reviewers praise the people who work at the facility: many individual staff members receive strong positive mention (including nurses, STNAs, therapists and named employees such as Alley, Suzie, Cindy, Ruth, Erin and Frank). Therapy and rehabilitation services are frequently called out as effective and instrumental to recovery, and some families report meaningful, individualized care, good activities, regular housekeeping, fresh bedding, and strong dementia expertise. Several reviewers explicitly state that their loved ones' condition improved, and some describe proactive communication, helpful aftercare, and a welcoming, resident-focused culture in specific units or shifts.
Despite those positive reports, the most frequent and serious criticisms relate to staffing, responsiveness, hygiene and safety. Multiple reviews recount ignored call lights, slow help-button responses, and staff who were unresponsive or on their phones. Understaffing is a consistent theme and is often cited as the root cause of delays in care, missed hygiene assistance, residents being left in soiled conditions, and meals not being delivered or eaten. These operational failures extend to basic dignity issues — reports of residents left wet or dirty, sheets not changed, beds or mattresses on the floor, strong urine and other persistent odors in hallways, and contaminated or filthy communal items (for example a fish tank described as filthy and smelly).
Safety, security and administration practices are serious concern areas for multiple families. There are recurring allegations of theft or missing personal items (including phones and money), billing after a resident's death, denied or delayed access to medical records, and at least one reported medication overdosage. Some reviewers describe infection outbreaks with delayed disclosure to families and calls to authorities. Separate complaints reference locked wings, security door alarm incidents, and feelings that residents were treated like prisoners — all indicating worries about both physical and psychological safety for residents.
Care consistency appears strongly dependent on shift and unit. Many reviews explicitly contrast excellent daytime staff with poor night-shift care, and some note that certain units or buildings offer much better environments than others. This variability creates an unpredictable experience for families: praised staff and effective dementia care exist alongside reports that certain nurses are rude, yell at residents, or lack compassion. Management and leadership are viewed positively by some (noting commitment and pride), but by others as money-focused, dismissive of complaints, or dishonest. These conflicting impressions suggest uneven oversight and variable staff training or retention across the facility.
Food, laundry and environmental issues are repeatedly noted. Several families report food being cold, hard, late, or left inaccessible to residents; other reviewers compliment the food in different contexts. Laundry failures and promises not kept are reported alongside positive accounts of daily fresh bedding in other rooms. The physical plant is described as older, with long hallways and closed entrances that make movement difficult for residents and families; heating and cooling problems are also mentioned.
In summary, Hickory Ridge shows clear strengths in its human resources — many caregivers, nurses and therapists are identified as compassionate, skilled, and effective, particularly for rehabilitation and dementia needs. However, systemic problems undermine those strengths: understaffing, inconsistent staffing across shifts, poor sanitation, safety incidents, theft allegations, administrative and communication failures, and serious lapses in basic care (ignored call lights, soiled residents, delayed medical disclosure). The overall pattern is one of high variability in resident experience: when the right staff are on duty and specific units are functioning well, families report very positive outcomes; when staffing is thin or issues arise, outcomes can be severe and potentially dangerous.
For families and stakeholders, the reviews suggest focusing questions and monitoring on (1) staffing levels and night-shift coverage, (2) response times to call lights and emergency bells, (3) infection control and disclosure policies, (4) property and medication security procedures, (5) hygiene and housekeeping schedules, and (6) transparent billing and medical record access. Where possible, visiting at different times (especially nights), asking for documentation of staffing ratios, and confirming protocols for personal possessions and medication administration would help ascertain whether the positive experiences reported by some are consistent across the facility or confined to specific units and shifts.
