Overall impression: The reviews for Harker Heights Nursing & Rehabilitation are highly polarized, with a substantial number of sharply positive reports and an equally large set of severe negative complaints. Some families and residents praise highly attentive, compassionate caregivers, skilled therapists, and supportive administrators who make transitions smooth and provide excellent hospice and rehabilitation services. Conversely, a sizable portion of reviews report systemic neglect, unsafe conditions, and mismanagement that have led to critical incidents, hospitalizations, and loss of trust. The net effect is an inconsistent reputation: the facility can provide excellent individualized care under certain staff and leadership, yet there are frequent and recurring reports of dangerous lapses in care under other circumstances.
Care quality and clinical safety: A recurring and serious theme in the negative reviews centers on clinical neglect and patient safety. Multiple reviewers describe missed medications, wrong medications, disordered medication administration, and failures to replace pain patches. Catheter care and urine sample handling were singled out as problematic. There are repeated reports of dehydration, oversedation, missed feeding, and progressive weight loss. Bedsores and pressure ulcers were described as developing or worsening during stays, and some reviewers allege bloodstream infections or UTIs that required hospitalization. Several reviews describe residents being left soiled, left on floors after falls, or exposed in gowns — all signals of serious lapses in basic nursing surveillance and dignity-preserving care.
Staffing, culture, and management: Many complaints tie poor care to staffing problems and management responsiveness. High turnover, chronic understaffing, and overworked staff are repeatedly mentioned. Some reviewers accuse staff of sleeping on duty, congregating to smoke in hallways, or being primarily on personal devices rather than attending to residents. In contrast, other reviewers highlight individual staff members, nurses, CNAs, therapists, and administrators who are attentive, communicative, and go above and beyond. That contrast indicates inconsistent culture and supervision: pockets of strong, committed caregivers exist, but systemic issues (hiring, training, retention, supervision) appear to allow dangerous variability. Numerous reviews also report that management or administration ignored complaints, failed to follow up, or was difficult to reach, which compounds family frustration and erodes confidence.
Cleanliness, infection control, and environment: Cleanliness reports are mixed and often decisive in reviewers' overall judgments. Many families praise a clean, home-like facility with tidy rooms, responsive housekeeping, and pleasant outdoor spaces. However, an alarming number of reviews report severe sanitation problems: rooms and bathrooms with feces, urine odors, mold, blood, and dirty linens. Several reviews state that smell and visible soiling delayed cleaning and decreased willingness to allow continued placement. Infection control concerns arise from these unsanitary conditions and reported clinical infections; some reviewers say infection risk was not properly addressed. Additionally, environmental problems such as hot rooms, malfunctioning air conditioning, and poorly maintained equipment were cited as contributing factors to delayed care or comfort issues.
Operations, communication, and billing: Communication and administrative operations appear inconsistent. Positive comments describe helpful admissions coordinators, smooth transitions, and an administrator who keeps families informed. Negative comments emphasize unreachable phone lines, voicemail failures, ignored incident reports, and poor cross-department communication (nursing, social work, therapy). Billing and financial issues were specifically flagged by multiple reviewers: confusion around Medicaid, inconsistent billing, alleged misappropriation of funds, delayed refunds, and families feeling pressured to sign forms or accept discharges without support. These operational failures magnify clinical and emotional harms when families cannot get timely answers or feel financially exploited.
Therapy, activities, and ancillary services: Therapy (PT/OT) and activities receive many of the most consistent positive remarks. Numerous reviewers credit therapy staff with meaningful functional improvements and say the activities program (garden, events, knitting, holiday activities) contributes positively to residents’ quality of life. On-site salon services, a garden area, and a welcoming common space are also frequently described as strengths. Nonetheless, some reviews report that promised therapy was not delivered or that therapy records were ignored when other care failures were present, again pointing to inconsistent service delivery.
Dining and nutrition: Reports on dining are mixed. Some reviewers praise the kitchen crew and describe appetizing meals, while others describe missed or insufficient meals, cold food, and occasions where residents were not fed properly. Nutrition-related complaints intersect with clinical complaints (dehydration, weight loss), indicating that mealtime assistance and feeding protocols may be inconsistent, particularly when staffing is thin.
Patterns and notable contrasts: Several reviewers note a clear timeline or leadership connection: early stays were satisfactory but care declined after COVID-related staffing changes or after administrative turnover. Others say care improved when particular staff or a new administrator were present. Named staff members were frequently singled out on both sides — certain caregivers, nurses, and administrators received strong praise, while others were implicated in poor outcomes. The presence of both high praise and severe criticism suggests variability by wing, shift, or team rather than uniform facility performance.
Conclusion and risk characterization: Based on the reviews, Harker Heights Nursing & Rehabilitation can provide excellent, compassionate, and effective care in many cases — particularly in rehab, therapy, activities, and when dedicated staff and administrators are engaged. However, there is a substantial and repeated body of evidence describing severe neglect, safety incidents, infection and medication errors, unsanitary conditions, and poor management responsiveness. These negative reports are not isolated minor service complaints but include clinical and safety concerns (missed meds, bedsores, dehydration, exposure, alleged assaults, and theft) that may place residents at high risk. Prospective families should weigh these polarized experiences carefully, ask detailed questions about staffing ratios, supervision, infection control practices, medication management, incident reporting, and billing transparency, and request to meet unit-level managers and see recent inspection or complaint records. If possible, verify the current management team and observe staffing and cleanliness patterns during different shifts before making placement decisions.
