Ambler Extended Care Center

    32 S Bethlehem Pike, Ambler, PA, 19002
    3.6 · 54 reviews
    • Assisted living
    • Memory care
    • Skilled nursing
    AnonymousLoved one of resident
    3.0

    Warm staff but inconsistent care

    I had a mixed experience. Admissions and many nurses, CNAs and therapists were warm, attentive and truly helped with rehab and activities - the facility can feel welcoming and well run. However care was inconsistent: communication about meds was poor, some shifts seemed understaffed or distracted, I witnessed hygiene/cleanliness and maintenance problems, and there were troubling safety/theft incidents, so I can't fully recommend without reservations.

    Pricing

    Schedule a Tour

    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

    3.57 · 54 reviews

    Overall rating

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

      3.8
    • Staff

      3.8
    • Meals

      2.6
    • Amenities

      3.1
    • Value

      3.6

    Pros

    • Friendly, caring, and attentive staff
    • Excellent and effective physical/rehab therapy
    • Helpful and accessible admissions team
    • Kind and hardworking CNAs and some excellent nurses
    • Active and engaging activities program
    • Personalized care plans and inclusion of families
    • Clean and well-maintained areas reported by multiple reviewers
    • Welcoming lobby, outdoor space, and homelike environment
    • Responsive front desk and supportive social work in some cases
    • Variety in meals and accommodation of special dietary requests
    • Positive first impressions and smooth transitions for some families
    • Recent renovations and a CMS 5-star rating noted by reviewers

    Cons

    • Poor and inconsistent communication among staff and with families
    • Highly variable care quality across shifts and individual staff
    • Cleanliness and hygiene problems (dirty rooms, bathrooms, smells)
    • Food issues including cold meals, low quality, and unsafe handling
    • Staffing shortages and long nurse response times
    • Maintenance and facility disrepair (broken windows, taped A/C)
    • Infection control concerns and lack of routine COVID testing
    • Serious safety/neglect incidents (falls, dehydration, sitting in feces)
    • Theft and delayed return of residents' belongings
    • Small, dark, or shared rooms with limited privacy and amenities
    • Lack of in-room phones/TV remotes and other basic supplies
    • Staff distracted or engaging in inappropriate behavior (phones, children)
    • Construction/remodel disruptions that removed facilities for days
    • Reports of rodents/dead animals and unsanitary conditions

    Summary review

    Overall sentiment across these reviews is mixed and highly polarized: many reviewers praise individual staff members and the rehabilitation program, while a significant number report serious failures in cleanliness, communication, safety, and management. The most consistent strengths are the therapy/rehab services and the compassion shown by specific employees; the most consistent weaknesses are inconsistent nursing/floor care, hygiene problems, food safety/quality concerns, and poor communication.

    Care quality and staffing: Physical and occupational therapy receive repeated, strong praise — reviewers describe therapists as kind, patient, thorough, and effective, and several cite markedly improved outcomes after rehab. Multiple staff members (including admissions and certain nurses/CNAs) are named and singled out for going above and beyond; reviewers credit admissions staff with smooth intake and good family communication in many cases. At the same time, nursing and floor care are described as inconsistent. Numerous accounts describe slow nurse response times, inattentive or rude nurses, understaffing (especially on weekends), distractions (staff on phones), and inappropriate behaviors (bringing children, lack of mask adherence). Several reviewers specifically call out that quality varies by shift and by individual caregiver, creating unpredictability in day-to-day care.

    Communication and management: Communication is a recurring concern. While admissions and some social work/front desk staff are frequently praised for being accessible and helpful, families report poor communication about medications, test results, belongings, and post-discharge follow-up in many cases. There are multiple reports of calls not being returned and lack of coordinated handoffs between departments. Some reviewers explicitly described management silence or lack of follow-through after serious incidents. This combination of praised front-end admissions and criticized operational communication suggests administrative strengths in intake but weaknesses in ongoing care coordination and accountability.

    Facilities, cleanliness, and maintenance: Reviews are conflicted but raise important red flags. Several reviewers describe the facility as clean, recently renovated, and pleasant (some note glass-like floors, attractive lobby, birds/fish tank, and inviting outdoor space). However, an equally strong set of reviews report serious cleanliness and maintenance problems: dirty bedrooms, bathrooms, dining rooms, smells of urine, dead mice found in bathrooms, unsanitary food handling (chew marks on peanut butter), grimy bedding/faces, and makeshift repairs (air conditioning wrapped in duct tape). Specific incidents include rooms not sanitized, beds falling out, rooms gutted for remodeling with no toilet facilities for days, and windows screwed shut. These conflicting reports point to uneven standards across units or time periods and raise concerns about infection control and general housekeeping consistency.

    Dining and activities: Activity programming is often praised — reviewers report endless activities, an engaged activities director, daily events, and useful supports such as FaceTime window visits. Meals draw mixed reviews: some residents appreciate variety and accommodation of special requests, while others complain about cold or low-quality food and even unsafe handling practices. The variability in dining experiences aligns with the broader theme of inconsistent service quality.

    Safety, serious incidents, and infection control: Multiple reviewers report alarming safety and neglect incidents: a patient left sitting in feces due to lack of bathing, dehydration leading to kidney failure, a hip fracture after a fall, theft of money and personal items, and reports of COVID exposure with inadequate testing. These are severe allegations and indicate episodes of compromised resident safety and oversight. Infection control concerns are also mentioned — including staff hesitancy about masks and inadequate COVID testing — which amplifies risks for a vulnerable population.

    Patterns and variability: A central pattern in these reviews is wide variability — some residents and families experienced excellent, compassionate, and effective care (especially from specific therapists and admissions staff), while others experienced neglect, unclean conditions, and poor communication. Praise tends to cluster around rehab therapists, certain nurses/CNAs, and admissions or front-desk personnel. Complaints tend to cluster around housekeeping, night/weekend shifts, food/dietary services, and management follow-through. This suggests that outcomes depend strongly on which unit, shift, or individual staff members a resident encounters.

    Conclusion: The overall picture is mixed but requires caution. If considering this facility, prospective families should verify current staffing ratios, meet the specific nurses and therapists who will provide daily care, ask about infection control and COVID testing protocols, inspect the room to be assigned for cleanliness and amenities, confirm policies on personal belongings and theft prevention, and clarify meal options and how dietary issues are handled. Given the repeated praise for rehab services, the center may be particularly well-suited for residents needing intensive short-term therapy, but the documented safety, hygiene, communication, and management concerns mean long-term placement or care of highly vulnerable residents should be assessed carefully and monitored closely.

    Location

    Map showing location of Ambler Extended Care Center

    About Ambler Extended Care Center

    Ambler Extended Care Center sits at 32 S Bethlehem Pike in Ambler, Pennsylvania, and has been part of the community since 1966, giving over 40 years of service with its 100-bed capacity for long-term care and senior rehabilitation, and the place encourages people to come take a tour so they can see the facility and staff for themselves. The building offers different care levels like skilled nursing, assisted living, memory care, long-term residential stays, personal care, respite or short-term stays, and hospice care. There are care options for people with serious health needs including traumatic brain injury, stroke recovery, cardiac problems, post-surgery rehab, with special therapy programs for physical, speech, and occupational needs, along with pain management, IV therapy, wound care, and help for pulmonary disease and nutrition intake. The center has private and semiprivate rooms, each with cable TV, internet access, and laundry service, and there are amenities like restaurant-style meals, a salon, community spaces, scheduled activities every day of the week, local trips, and even state-of-the-art bipolar ionization air filters to clean the air and help keep germs down. Each resident gets a personalized care plan that focuses on keeping as much independence as each person can, with the goal to help people stay involved in community activities, and the staff is known for giving personal attention, often having worked there for many years, which helps with continuity of care and gives the whole place a family feeling from the start. The staff focuses on residents' comfort, quality of life, and safety, with a strong commitment to those needs, and Ambler Extended Care Center has received recognition from the American Health Care Association's 2020 Quality Initiative program. It's in an active part of Ambler, close to shops, restaurants, and community centers, so residents can be part of neighborhood activities, while inside residents can choose from different programs and therapies, enjoy daily enrichment, and get support with things like pain, meals, and personal needs. The center also offers a pre-registration program for people planning rehabilitation before surgery, which makes transitions a little smoother, and since Ambler Extended Care Center is affiliated as a senior care community with a reputation for a home-like atmosphere and a care-first approach, it's a place that focuses on experience, specialized programs, and compassion to help people live as well as possible.

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