The reviews for Autumn Leaves of Cityview present a starkly mixed and highly polarized picture of the community. On the positive side, many families praise compassionate, dedicated frontline caregivers, engaged nurses, and sometimes very effective leadership (particularly when an involved executive director or strong nurse leader is present). Multiple reviewers describe a home-like, bright, and well-decorated facility with private rooms, pleasant dining areas, and an active activities program led by a well-liked activities director. Several accounts highlight good food, visible sanitation, useful medical follow-up (including blood sugar reports), prompt hospice involvement when needed, and noticeable resident improvements such as weight gain and better mood. When leadership is stable and staffing is adequate, families report strong communication, smooth transitions, and a trusting relationship with staff — many go so far as to highly recommend the facility.
However, a substantial portion of reviews report serious and recurring problems that cannot be overlooked. The most frequent negative themes are chronic understaffing and high staff turnover, inconsistent care quality across shifts, and repeated breakdowns in basic hygiene and safety. Reports include deeply troubling incidents: residents left without showers for weeks, teeth not brushed, clothes soaked in urine or missing, ammonia odors, and even maggot-infested furniture. Several accounts describe severe medical outcomes allegedly tied to neglect or delayed response, including falls with broken femur/hip and multiple spinal fractures, MRSA infections, hospitalizations, transitions to hospice, and deaths. Families also recount episodes where emergency care was delayed (ambulances not called until families pressed staff), residents were transported without proper safety gear, and wounds or bruises were left unexplained.
Medication management emerges as another consistent area of concern. Reviews describe medications being misplaced, not administered, or running out unexpectedly. Conversely, some families praise good medication follow-up and adjustments by attentive nurses and physicians. This discrepancy often correlates with the stability and quality of leadership and staffing: positive experiences frequently note strong health services leadership; negative ones attribute lapses to nurse resignation, inadequate training, or management lapses. Related to management, there are multiple complaints about administrative behavior — accusations that corporate or on-site managers are money-focused, lacking accountability, slow or rude in communication, or even engaging in attempted cover-ups (examples include cameras being disabled or WiFi for in-room cameras turned off). Several reviewers cite unresolved billing disputes, including ongoing charges after a resident's death and promised refunds that were delayed or not received.
Cleanliness and facility maintenance are another area with bifurcated reporting. Many reviewers report a clean, bright, and pleasantly scented facility with visible staff presence and good decor. In stark contrast, other reviews describe severe sanitation failures: rooms not cleaned, bed linens soaked, dirty bagged clothing emitting odor, and even maggots in furniture. These extremes suggest significant inconsistency between units, shifts, or time periods — with some families experiencing excellent housekeeping and others encountering alarming neglect.
Activities and dining generally receive favorable comments overall, with numerous reports of engaging programming, creative events, and well-liked meals. Still, there are criticisms of limited activity equipment, reduced programming during COVID, and light evening meals for some residents. Cost and value are also recurring concerns: the community is described as expensive, and several families felt poor value for money when care quality declined.
A clear pattern runs through many reviews: the quality of the resident experience appears strongly tied to leadership stability and adequate staffing. Positive accounts often cite an accessible executive director, a strong nurse on site, and low turnover; negative experiences frequently begin or worsen after managers or key nursing staff leave, resulting in poorly trained replacement staff, lower supervision, and deteriorating care. Families repeatedly note that caregivers are often kind and try to do their best but are overworked and unsupported — which correlates with hygiene lapses, missed meds, and lack of supervision.
In conclusion, Autumn Leaves of Cityview elicits both high praise and severe criticism. Pros include compassionate caregivers, good food, attractive facilities in many reports, and high-quality dementia-friendly care when staffing and leadership are consistent. Cons include systemic issues: understaffing, turnover, medication errors, serious safety and hygiene failures, management accountability problems, and billing disputes. Prospective families should weigh both sides carefully: look for signs of stable, hands-on leadership and consistent staffing; ask detailed questions about staffing ratios, incident reporting, medication procedures, housekeeping standards, camera policies, and billing/refund practices; and try to speak with current families about recent trends rather than isolated past incidents. The divergence in reviews suggests the community can provide excellent care under the right conditions but has recurring vulnerabilities that have led to very serious adverse outcomes for some residents.
