Overall sentiment across the reviews for Portsmouth Health and Rehab is highly mixed, with a pronounced polarity: several reviewers describe excellent clinical services and compassionate staff, while many others report serious quality, safety, communication, and cleanliness concerns. The most consistent positive themes are strong rehabilitation services (physical therapy), effective wound care, and individual staff members who are described as caring, attentive, and professional. Multiple accounts highlight an excellent rehab department and specific clinicians or teams who contributed positively to recovery and post-op healing. Several reviews also note improved cleanliness, better odors, and improved bedside care attributed to recent efforts or leadership changes.
However, negative reports are frequent and often serious. A recurring set of complaints centers on neglectful or inconsistent nursing care: missed medications, missed diaper changes, infrequent showers, residents left unbathed, and instances where family members had to step in to provide basic care. There are multiple accounts of falls and at least one report of a delayed hospital transfer, all of which raise safety concerns. Reviewers describe unresponsive nursing stations and phone lines, poor follow-up after incidents (including a lack of communication after a resident's death), and billing/Medicare reimbursement problems that caused stress for families. These operational failures combine to create perceptions that residents were sometimes not closely monitored or properly cared for.
Cleanliness and maintenance were another major dividing theme. Several reviewers reported very poor sanitary conditions — cockroaches, filthy shower rooms, dirty rooms and roommates, and bad odors — and some called for the facility to be shut down. Conversely, other reviewers said the building was clean, smelled pleasant, and was well-maintained. Maintenance issues such as broken air conditioning, old furniture, and exterior accessibility problems (bushes blocking sidewalks) were also mentioned. These conflicting impressions suggest variability over time or between different units/wing assignments: some parts or shifts may be clean and well-managed while others are not.
Staffing, culture, and leadership stability appear to be inconsistent and are frequently cited as root causes of other problems. Many reviews describe high staff turnover, understaffing, a toxic workplace culture, and management instability — including reports of drama among staff, nurses overpowering management, and fear of retaliation. At the same time, some reviewers praise administrators, the Director of Nursing (DON), and new HR personnel for responsiveness and efforts to improve care and morale. This suggests that leadership changes have produced improvements for some families while cultural or staffing challenges remain unresolved for others.
Communication, family relations, and administrative issues come up repeatedly. Families complain about rude front-desk staff, unanswered calls, failure to receive promised updates, and insensitive handling of end-of-life situations. There are reports of poor post-mortem communication and lack of outreach following a loved one’s death. Financial administrative problems — notably Medicare billing while a resident was private pay and resulting reimbursement delays — add another layer of dissatisfaction. Where leadership and nursing are engaged and communicative, families report feeling supported; where they are not, families express regret, anger, and sometimes allegations of cover-ups or misconduct.
There are also multiple specific allegations of staff misconduct and safety violations including cursing at patients, touching residents without consent, alleged deception around pronouncing death, and other behaviors that families characterized as abusive or unprofessional. While such allegations were not universal across reviews, their presence is significant and contributes to an overall impression among some reviewers that patient safety and dignity have been compromised. These reports, combined with accounts of neglect and missed medical tasks, should be considered serious red flags by prospective families.
Dining, activities, and resident quality of life get mixed marks. Some reviewers praise the food and activity staff and ask only for more options for bed-bound residents, while others describe late or poor meals and insufficient engagement. Accessibility concerns were also noted: some reviewers said electric wheelchairs were not permitted and sidewalks were impassable for walkers or wheelchairs, which negatively affects mobility and independence for residents.
In summary, Portsmouth Health and Rehab presents a split picture. Strengths include a well-regarded rehab/physical therapy program, pockets of strong clinical care and wound management, and some instances of proactive leadership and improved cleanliness. Weaknesses that repeat across many reviews are inconsistent and sometimes neglectful nursing care, serious cleanliness and pest-control issues, unresponsiveness and poor communication, maintenance and accessibility problems, billing/administrative errors, and reports of a toxic staff culture and high turnover. The variability suggests that experiences can differ widely depending on unit, shift, or time period. Prospective residents and families should weigh the positive reports about rehab and certain caring staff against the recurring safety, hygiene, communication, and management concerns. If considering placement, visitors should ask specific, recent questions about staffing ratios, fall prevention protocols, infection control, pest control measures, Medicare/billing procedures, and the facility’s current turnover and leadership stability; arranging multiple visits across different days and shifts and seeking references from recent families could help assess current conditions.
