The reviews for Rock Creek Nursing and Rehabilitation are highly polarized, with numerous accounts praising the facility's therapy, some staff, and the environment, while an approximately equal number of reviews describe alarming instances of neglect, medication errors, and management failures. A recurring positive theme is the quality of the rehabilitation program: physical and occupational therapy are repeatedly described as excellent, with many reviewers crediting therapy staff for meaningful mobility gains and successful short-term rehab outcomes. Several families and residents mention attentive wound care, individualized attention to dietary/allergy needs, and activity programs that keep residents engaged. Admissions personnel and specific staff members (Jena/Jenna/Richelle, a liaison, and some nurses/CNAs) receive frequent praise for being helpful, professional, and compassionate. Many reviewers also described the building itself as clean, attractive, and home-like.
Conversely, a substantial set of reviews documents serious and actionable problems with clinical care and safety. Multiple reports detail medication errors and delays — including missed doses of critical medications such as heart meds and blood thinners — sometimes with potentially life-threatening implications and near-legal consequences. Call lights with 30–45 minute response times, delayed or missed showers, and missed morning medications are repeatedly mentioned and commonly attributed to understaffing. Hygiene neglect ranges from infrequent bathing to exposure to feces/urine and rapid skin breakdown. Some reviewers allege over-sedation, withholding of water, and rough handling by aides. There are also several disturbing safety incidents: residents left on the floor until others arrived, falls that staff allegedly shifted blame for, false discharge notices, and accounts of being locked out or administratively yelled at. These reports suggest inconsistent standards of care and important safety risks for vulnerable residents.
Management, communication, and record-keeping emerge as persistent problem areas in many reviews. Families describe poor communication, lack of timely updates, and difficulty reaching staff by phone; one family said they had to visit in person to obtain basic information. Several reviews describe management that shifts responsibility, is unhelpful or defensive when issues are raised, and shows high turnover — including reports of a fired director and a Director of Nursing who was not an RN. Administrative problems extend to lost or delayed orders (faxes lost via Tyler), missing records related to VA processes, and problems with transfers. These operational issues compound clinical concerns because they can delay care, obscure accountability, and frustrate families seeking timely answers.
Dining and housekeeping are unevenly reported. Some residents praise the food as fantastic, and others say meals are hot and the dining experience is good. Contrasting reviews complain about repeatedly served sandwiches and soup, bland or cold food, poor meal variety, and even burned items. Cleanliness reports are also mixed: many reviews highlight a neat, beautiful home, while other accounts report dirty bedroom and bathroom floors, missing towels or bath aids, and malfunctioning equipment such as a nurse call switch or entry light. This suggests that housekeeping and maintenance may be inconsistent across wings, shifts, or time periods.
A notable pattern is the high variability between positive and negative experiences — often within the same period. This suggests the facility has pockets of strong, dedicated staff and effective programs (therapy, some nurses, activities, admissions) but also systemic weaknesses: staffing shortages, leadership instability, inconsistent training, and broken processes for medications, transfers, and incident reporting. Some reviewers explicitly contrast their stellar experiences with others’ nightmares, indicating that quality likely depends heavily on which staff are assigned and how well leadership enforces standards.
Families considering Rock Creek should weigh these mixed signals carefully. Strengths to consider include the strong rehab program, several compassionate staff members, and an attractive environment with engaging activities. However, the frequency and severity of reports about medication errors, understaffing with long response times, hygiene neglect, safety incidents, and managerial failures are significant red flags that warrant direct, specific inquiry before placement. Recommended due diligence includes asking the facility for current staffing ratios, turnover statistics, medication safety protocols, incident reporting and investigation procedures, examples of recent corrective actions, and references from recent families who have had both short-term rehab and long-term care experiences. If possible, visiting during different shifts and speaking directly with nursing and therapy staff can help prospective residents or families gauge whether the facility’s strengths are consistent and whether management is actively addressing the serious concerns raised in multiple reviews.
