West Lawrence Care Center

    1410 Seagirt Boulevard, Far Rockaway, NY, 11691
    1.8 · 5 reviews
    • Skilled nursing
    AnonymousLoved one of resident
    1.0

    Understaffed, unclean, unsafe dementia care

    I do not recommend this facility. In my experience it was severely understaffed and often unclean (urine smell, sticky/dirty floors, outdated beds/furniture, pills found under beds); staff sometimes seemed uncaring though a few were kind, medication follow-up and dementia care were adequate and private rooms/activities exist, but safety/handling concerns forced me to transfer my grandmother - I also lost a family member while they were a resident.

    Pricing

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    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

    1.80 · 5 reviews

    Overall rating

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

      1.6
    • Staff

      1.6
    • Meals

      1.0
    • Amenities

      2.5
    • Value

      1.8

    Pros

    • adequate medication follow-up (reported by some reviewers)
    • dementia care available
    • private rooms available and acceptable
    • some recreation and activities offered
    • staff members described as kind by some reviewers
    • privacy for residents is generally respected

    Cons

    • mediocre to poor overall quality of care
    • serious cleanliness and hygiene problems (odors, sticky/dirty floors)
    • understaffed and poor staff-to-patient ratio
    • safety and mishandling concerns during transfers
    • medication management issues (pills found under bed, crushed pills)
    • missing personal items (shoes) and signs of neglect
    • reports of neglect, risk of abuse, and at least one death cited by reviewers
    • outdated beds and furniture
    • poor food quality
    • inconsistent or absent recreational activities
    • multiple reviewers do not recommend the facility

    Summary review

    Overall sentiment across the reviews is predominantly negative, with recurring themes of inadequate care, staffing problems, and cleanliness issues. While a few positive points appear in the set of summaries, such as availability of dementia care, private rooms, some recreation, and isolated reports of kind staff and acceptable medication follow-up, these positives are outweighed by numerous, significant concerns reported by multiple reviewers. The most frequent and serious issues are understaffing, hygiene problems, medication mismanagement, and safety-related incidents that led some families to transfer loved ones out of the facility.

    Care quality appears inconsistent and often below expected standards for a nursing facility. Several reviews describe mediocre to poor nursing care, and at least two reviewers report transferring relatives away due to unacceptable care, including one reviewer who linked a family member's death to the facility. The poor staff-to-patient ratio and understaffing are repeatedly cited as drivers of substandard care; reviewers describe delayed or hesitant transfers, missing personal items, and an overall risk of neglect or abuse when staffing is inadequate. Although one or more reviewers mention adequate medication follow-up, other accounts directly contradict that, reporting pills found under a bed, crushed medications, and general medication management lapses. This variability suggests inconsistent clinical practices and supervision.

    Staff behavior and safety concerns are another major pattern. Some reviewers note staff kindness and respect for resident privacy, but many more express worry about uncaring or negligent behavior, mishandling during transfers, and safety shortcuts. Transfer hesitation and mishandling are specifically mentioned, indicating potential issues with mobility assistance and fall risk. The mixed reports about staff indicate uneven training, supervision, or morale—some individual caregivers may be compassionate, while systemic problems lead to broader neglect.

    Facility conditions and housekeeping are additional weak points. Repeated comments reference offensive odors such as urine, sticky or dirty floors, a room stench, and generally unclean environments. Outdated beds and furniture are mentioned, contributing to an institutional and poorly maintained atmosphere. Several reviewers reported specific examples of neglect related to environment and possessions, such as missing shoes and pills found under beds, which both reflect housekeeping failures and create safety hazards.

    Dining and programming also draw criticism. Food quality is described by at least one reviewer as disgusting, and recreational activity reporting is inconsistent: while a few reviews say recreation and activities are available, others claim there are no activities and call it the worst nursing home. This inconsistency suggests programming is unreliable or varies by unit or shift, and that families should verify activity schedules in person.

    Taken together, the reviews paint a picture of a facility with some basic services in place—dementia care, private rooms, and occasional kind staff—but with systemic problems that impair resident well-being. The dominant issues are understaffing, hygiene and maintenance lapses, medication and safety concerns, and inconsistent food and programming. Multiple reviewers explicitly state they would not recommend the facility, and several families transferred relatives to other facilities. These are strong warning signs that warrant careful scrutiny.

    For anyone considering this facility, the reviews indicate it would be prudent to conduct thorough, unannounced visits, ask for current staffing ratios and recent inspection reports, inquire specifically about medication management and transfer protocols, and speak with multiple families of current residents about their experiences. The presence of dementia care and private rooms may meet some needs, but potential visitors should weigh those amenities against the recurring reports of neglect, cleanliness problems, and safety issues before making a placement decision.

    Location

    Map showing location of West Lawrence Care Center

    About West Lawrence Care Center

    West Lawrence Care Center sits in Far Rockaway, NY, at 1410 Seagirt Blvd and has 215 beds for both long-term care and short-term rehabilitation, so it's a very large facility where folks can get help if they need it, whether they're staying for a while or coming in to recover and leave. The place is officially listed as a nursing home community, though it falls under the bigger umbrella of senior living options, including assisted living, memory care, and nursing homes, and it's run by West Lawrence Care Center, LLC, which is a for-profit partnership. Now, while prices aren't posted, some folks have left reviews online and the score is low, landing around 1.3 to 1.5 stars out of 5, based on 3 reviews, so there have been mixed opinions, and not everyone who stayed here felt satisfied.

    Staffing-wise, the center gives about 1.02 total staff hours for each resident, with 0.42 hours from RNs, 0.6 hours from LPNs, and 1.81 hours from CNAs per resident, so there is round-the-clock care from nurses and aides, and the occupancy rate is high, at about 97%, with 209 residents out of the 215 certified beds filled. The center is quite diverse, with multilingual staff able to speak Cantonese, French, Italian, Russian, and Spanish, which can make things easier for families whose home language isn't English.

    For amenities, West Lawrence offers a garden, patio, resident parking, and even a spa-so there are a few outdoor spots and things to make downtime pleasant. The care team looks after people who might have delirium, pain from pressure sores, or trouble with weight loss, and helps those with urinary tract infections or bladder and bowel control concerns, keeping track of pain and checking for pressure sores regularly, as well as giving flu and pneumonia shots to long-term residents, doing what's needed to keep folks healthy as best they can. The building's got partially sprinklered fire safety features, resident and family councils, and it stays ready for emergencies. The community isn't inside a hospital, not part of a larger continuing care retirement community, and doesn't have a Quality Indicator Survey or a Special Focus Facility label.

    West Lawrence participates in both Medicare and Medicaid programs and helps connect people with local senior living advisors, should families need guidance or placement help, and it shares information on health and legal matters for seniors in the region. So, anyone looking for long-term or short-term skilled nursing care might consider West Lawrence Care Center, which tries to meet the needs of a large, diverse group of seniors, though various reviews show satisfaction levels have been mixed.

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